UMASS/AMHERST  ^ 


31EDtit.DDSlDH114 


JVE  COLLEGE 
DEPOSITORY 


MASSACHUSETTS 
STATE    COLLEGE 


LIBRARY 


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B8 


flPEdALtOLLICHBlil 


This   book   may   be   kept   out 

TWO  WEEKS 

only,    and    is   subject   to   a    fine   of   TWO 
CENTS    a   day   thereafter.      It   will    be   due 
on    the   day   indicated    below. 


^aiyo 


VALUABLE  SCHOOL  BOOKS, 

PUBLISHED   BY 

DAVID    H.  WILLIAMS, 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


PIERPONT'S   SERIES  OF  READING   BOOKS. 

1.  The  Little  Learner,  or  Rudiments  of  Reading. 

2.  The  Young  Reader,  to  go  with  the  Spelling  Book. 

3.  Introduction  to  the  National.  Reader,  a  Selec- 
tion of  Easy  Reading  Lessons. 

4.  The  National  Reader  ;  being  a  Selection  of  Exer- 
cises in  Reading  and  Speaking. 

5.  The  American  First  Class  Book. 

*^*  These  five  works,  compiled  by  the  Rev.  John  Pier- 
poNT,  compose  a  series  which  is  undoubtedly  more  suitable  for 
the  purposes  for  which  they  were  designed,  than  any  previous 
publications.  The  series  is  used  in  the  Boston  schools,  and  ex- 
tensively in  those  of  New  England,  and  other  parts  of  the  United 
States. 


WORCESTER'S    SCHOOL    BOOKS. 
improved  edition. 

Elements  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Geography, 
with  an  Atlas. 

Elements  of  Modern  Geography,  with  an  Atlas. 

Elements  of  Ancient  Classical  and  Scripture 
Geography,   with   an   Atlas. 

*^*  These  works  have  just  been  revised,  and  improved  by 
many  alterations  and  additions,  required  by  the  present  condition 
of  geographical  knowledge.  They  are  used  in  Harvard  Univer- 
sity and  the  Boston  Schools,  and  in  some  of  the  first  literary  in- 
stitutions and  schools  in  the  country. 


D.  H.  W.  also  publishes  the  American  Almanac  and  Reposi- 
tory of  Useful  Knoioledge;  Sewall's  New  York  Collection  of 
Psalms  and  Hymns,  &c.  &c. 

1Ij=  Teachers  and  Booksellers  will  be  supplied  with 
the  above  on  liberal  terms. 


THE 


PRACTICAL  FARMER, 


^pixit  of  tf)t  Bogtott  Cttltitjatot, 


CONTAINING  A 


COLLECTION  OF  VALUABLE  ESSAYS, 


PRACTICAL  AGRICULTURE,  &c. 


BY    WILLIAM    BUCKMINSTER. 


BOSTON: 
DAVID    H.   WILLIAMS 

1840. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1840, 

BY     D.     H.     WILLIAMS, 

in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


PREFACE. 


CD 

5> 


The  following  pages  contain  the  essence  of  the  Boston 
Cultivator^  which  was  published  weekly,  in  newspaper  form, 
during  the  year  1839. 

Our  original  subscribers  will  recollect  that  we  promised,  at 
the  commencement  of  our  paper,  to  furnish  each  one  of  them, 
at  the  close  of  the  year,  with  a  bound  book,  containing  the 
principal  portion  of  the  permanent  and  most  valuable  articles 
of  the  paper,  at  the  same  price  that  is  usually  paid  for  bind- 
ing a  volume  of  newspapers. 

We  dislike  the  quarto  form  for  a  newspaper,  for,  in  reading, 
we  are  not  always  sure  we  put  the  proper  parts  together  to 
match  ;  and  the  expense  of  binding  our  large  folio  sheet  would 
be  one  objection  to  preserving  the  papers  in  that  form.  Anoth- 
er serious  objection  would  be  the  room  the  folio  must  occu- 
py, and  the  labor  of  holding  it  while  examining  its  contents. 

For  these  reasons,  many  of  our  early  patrons  requested  us 
not  to  give  them  a  quarto  sheet,  and  all  have  now  an  oppor- 
tunity of  securing,  in  convenient  form,  the  spirit  and  substance 
of  the  fifty-two  numbers. 
Cv^       When  we  commenced  the  publication  of  the  Cultivator  we 
n    supposed  a  book  as  large  as  our  annual  registers  would  be 
^^  of  sufficient  size  to  contain  all  we  might  wish  to  preserve ;  but, 
on  trial,  we  find  we  are  obliged  to  make  our  book  much  larger 


VI  PREFACE. 

than  we  contemplated,  and  still  leave  out  of  it  some  articles 
that  we  should  like  to  preserve. 

But  this  redundancy  enables  us  to  make  a  selection ;  and 
we  are  under  no  necessity  of  publishing  the  whole  contents  of 
the  first  page  of  our  newspaper  in  order  to  make  up  a  book. 

Most  of  those  mechanics  and  farmers  who  think  it  useful  to 
look  into  books  occasionally,  to  learn  what  others  in  their 
line  are  doing,  will  find  it  very  convenient  to  preserve^  in  the 
form  of  a  book,  valuable  recipes  in  the  arts,  as  well  as  records 
of  the  various  improvements  in  agriculture. 

We  have  often  seen  in  newspapers  valuable  articles  which 
we  should  like  to  see  again.  We  retain  a  faint  impression  of 
the  contents,  but  not  sufficient  for  any  valuable  purpose  ; 
and,  when  it  is  too  late,  we  make  an  unsuccessful  inquiry  for 
the  object  of  our  search. 

An  index  to  the  volume  will  at  once  direct  the  inquirer  to 
any  article  he  may  be  in  search  of ;  and,  by  bestowing  a  small 
sum,  which  any  farmer  or  mechanic  may  well  spare  for 
books,  he  will  soon  form  a  family  library  that  may  be  en- 
joyed  by  himself  and   his  family,  and  then  be  transmitted  to 

his  heirs  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 

W.   B. 


INDEX. 


Page 

Asparagus, 115 

Agriculture, 121 

Agriculture  in  the  United 

States, .190 

Agriculture,     comparative 

Value  of, 213 

Artichoke,  the  English,     .  240 
Agricultural  Society's  Re- 
port,     280 

Age  of  the  Horse,     .     .     .285 
Animal      and     Vegetable 

Manure,  &c 293 

Butter,   Making  and  Salt- 
ing of,      ....      81,  257 

Buckwheat, 99 

Burnt  Clay, 106 

Bone  Manure,      .     .     .     .119 
Book-Farming,     ....  221 

Brown  Corn, 274 

Bacon,  Making,   ....  287 

Bets, 289 

Cements, 49 

Carts,  Farming,  ....  95 
Correspondence,  128,  168,  177, 
180,  182,  216,  243,  272 
Calculation,  Management,  198 
Clover,  early  cut,      .     .     .  199 

Cattle, 202 

Comparative      Value     of 

Agriculture,      ....  213 
Cold  and  Wet  Ground,      .  229 

Corn-Fields, 230 

Canker-Worm,    .    .    .     .246 


Page 

Coarse  Meadow  Grass,  .  270 
Cabbage  Plants,  ....  296 
Dyspepsy  in  Hogs,  .     .     .  242 

Economy, 22 

Entomology, 39 

Earths  and  Soils,  .  .  .100 
Feeding  Cattle,  .  .  .45,  185 
Forests,  on  cutting,  .  .  93 
Farming-Carts,    ....     95 

Fir  Balsam, 114 

Farm-Building,    ....  125 

Farm-Tools, 143 

Farm-Yard  Management,  145 
Facts  for  Farmers,   .     .     .  208 

Flat  Turnip, 211 

Fruit-Trees, 276 

Farmers  and  Mechanics,  .  291 

Grass, 52 

Grain,  Worm,      ....     92 
Green  Crops,  .      ....  160 
Gravelly    Land:     Corres- 
pondence,      180 

Grass-Lands,  &c. :  Corres- 
pondence,      182 

Garget, 227 

Grapes, 239 

Grapes:  Correspondence,.  279 
Grasshoppers,  ....  300 
Hedges,  live,  .  .  .  .112 
Horse,  the,  .  .  .  162,  285 
Hints  to  Farmers,    .     .     .  181 

Having, 189 

Harrow,  the, 228 


Vlll 


INDEX. 


Page 

Harvesting  Corn,      .     .     .  230 

Indian  Corn, 175 

Insects     on    Fruit-Trees : 

Inquiry, 200 

Improvement   of   the  Soil 
by    Animal    and    Vege- 
table Manure,  ....  293 
Lime,  Facts,  &c.  of,      .     .     18 
Locomotion,     ....  63,  74 

Lime, 107 

Live  Hedges, 112 

Light   and  Coarse   Mould 

under  Stone  Walls,        .   156 
Lucerne,  or  French  Clover,  157 
Low   Land:    Correspond- 
ence,   . 177 

Low  Lands, 222 

Labors  of  .September,  .  .  225 
Labors  of  November,  .  •  263 
Manures,  .....  25,  87 
Mechanics,  ....  30,  61 
Manures,  and  their  Appli- 
cation to  the  Soil,  .  40,  54, 
72,  152 

Maple  Sugar, 57 

Milking,      .     .     .     .68, 71,  79 
Marl,   its  Nature  and  Ef- 
fects,   165 

Manure:  Correspondence,  168 
243 
Mildew  on  Grass,  .  .  .  197 
Making  Butter,  ....  257 
Meadow-Grass,  coarse,  .  270 
November,  Labors  of,  .     .  263 

Neat  Stock, 297 

Orchards,    ...     11,  77,  133 
One  extra  Hen,    ....  109 

Peat-Land, 91 

Ploughing, 96 

Production  and  Consump- 
tion,     104 

Potatoes,      .     .      124,  260,  272 
Peat-Meadow,      .     .    171,  179 

Pruning, 207 

Potatoes,  gathering    of,     .  229 
Peat, 231 


Page 
Plaster  of  Paris,  .  .  236,  269 
Pig-Pen  in  August,  .  .  .  245 
Rohan  Potato,  ....  26 
Raising  Roots,     ....     94 

Roots, 110, 158 

Root    Culture,    Report   of 

the  Committee  on,  .  .  134 
Roses,  Tincture  of,  .  .  286 
Swamp  Lands,  ....  15 
Seeding  down,  ....  36 
Sugar-Beet,  ...  48,  241 
Short-Legged  Animals,     .     65 

Soils, 89,  100 

Silk 116,  131 

Sunflower  Oil,  ....  120 
Soils,  Exhaustion  of,  .  .  122 
Soils,    their     Origin     and 

Nature, 149 

Soaking  Seed-Corn,  .  .  155 
Suckering  Corn,  .  .  i  .  201 
Salt  Water  for  Cleansing 

Wool, 204 

Strawberries,  Culture  of,  .  205 
Seeding     down:     Corres- 
pondence,      216 

Saving  Seeds,      ....  256 
Succession  of  Crops,     .     .  265 
Sea-Sand,  Vegetative  Pow- 
er of,   278 

To  oar  Brother  Farmers,  .  9 
Turnip  versus  Potato,  .  16 
Transplanting,      .     .       32,  271 

The  Ladies, 67 

Tails 69 

Tall  Meadow  Oat-Grass,     117 

The  Horse, 162 

The  Garden   an   Index  of 

the  Mind, 164 

Turnip,  flat, 211 

Tincture  of  Roses,  .  .  .  286 
Timber  for  Fencing,  .  .  399 
Vegetative  Power  of  Sea- 

Sand, 278 

Wheels, 85 

Washing  Trees,  ....  118 
Wheat:  Correspondence.     128 


TO  OUR  BROTHER  FARMERS. 


Gentlemen,  you  have  often  heard  of  us  through  the 
medium  of  other  agricultural  journals,  but  now  you  will 
see  us  in  a  more  conspicuous  station  than  prudence 
might  advise  us  to  take. 

The  only  apology  we  have  is  the  zeal  we  bear 
to  the  more  perfect  cultivation  of  our  native  soil,  — 
our  beloved  New  England.  In  taking  upon  our- 
selves the  trust  of  conducting  a  journal  which  will 
be  the  medium  of  communicating  information  from 
you  and  to  you,  we  pray  you  to  understand  we  as- 
sume no  dictatorial  powers.  We  do  not  profess  to 
teach  you  how  to  manage  your  farms.  We  rather 
choose  to  be  the  medium  through  which  you  shall 
make  communications  to  one  another  on  our  favorite 
topics,  and  thus  elicit  facts  and  arguments  in  favor  of 
a  more  improved  system  of  cultivation. 

We  wish  this  day  to  commence  and  to  continue  a 
system  of  mutual  i7istruction  in  which  you  shall  all  bear 
a  part ;  and  to  afford  you  a  medium,  on  the  very  lowest 
terms  in  our  power,  through  which  facts  may  be  read- 
ily communicated,  from  which  conclusions  may  be 
drawn,  for  our  advancement  in  our  profession  and  call- 
ing, and  for  the  edification  of  all  concerned.  Living 
remote  from  towns  and  from  each  other,  we  are  prone 
to  become  careless  and  inattentive  to  our  best  interests ; 
2 


10  TO  OUR  BROTHER  FARMERS. 

we  forget  and  we  neglect  important  duties,  for  the  want 
of  a  little  jogging,  and  we  let  slip  the  golden  oppor- 
tunity of  overcoming  difficulties  until  it  is  too  late. 
In  this  respect,  mechanics  who  cluster  in  cities  and 
in  villages  have  a  decided  advantage  over  us  in  all 
colloquial  intercourse ;  and,  by  long  practice,  they 
acquire  a  habit  of  communicating  their  thoughts  with 
more  fluency  than  we  who  associate  less  with  our  fel- 
low-craftsmen. 

We  are  accordingly  accused  of  being  more  backward 
in  adopting  improvements  than  other  classes ;  and,  to 
compensate  for  our  living  more  remote  from  each  other 
than  any  class  of  workmen,  we  must  write  more  and 
read  more.  For  these  we  have  the  means.  We  have 
wholly  the  advantage  of  the  mechanic  in  the  leisure 
afforded  us  in  our  long  winter  evenings  for  reading  and 
for  writing.  Let  us  improve  these  advantages,  and 
endeavor,  by  a  course  of  mutual  instruction,  through 
the  medium  of  books  and  papers,  to  make  compensa- 
tion for  the  disadvantages  of  dwelling  remotely  from 
each  other.  Let  us  remind  each  other  of  what  should 
be  done,  and  of  the  time  of  doing  ;  and,  if  any  one 
has  discovered  an  improved  mode  of  cultivation,  let 
it  be  communicated  as  rapidly  as  improvements  are 
among  mechanics. 

We  have  no  idea  that  we  have  yet  arrived  at  per- 
fection in  the  art  of  cultivation.  If  any  one  has  reached 
that  goal,  let  him  teach  another  the  way.  We  met 
a  farmer  the  other  day,  wrapped  up  close  in  wisdom 
and  his  great  coat,  and  invited  him  to  join  our  society  ; 
that  is,  take  our  paper.  "No,"  said  he;  "I  know 
how  to  farm  it  without  books."  "  Yes,"  we  said, 
"  we  are  well  aware  of  that,  and  we  wish  you  to 
communicate  your  knowledge  to  others,  that  they  may 
become  rich  like  yourself"  He  wrapped  his  coat 
about  him'  still  more  tight,  and  said,  "  One  is  enough 
for  me  to  take  care  of"  We  hope  and  trust  that  few 
in  the  community  keep  their  wisdom  so  close  as  this 


ORCHARDS. 


11 


man,  and  that  the  great  majority  take  as  much  pleas- 
ure in  making  known  new  modes  of  cultivation  as 
some  of  the  other  sex  are  said  to  do  in  divulging  the 
profoundest  secrets.  There  is  a  pleasure  in  communi- 
cating information :  both  sexes  delight  in  it.  By  the 
system  here  recommended  we  make  our  duty  a  pleas- 
ure, and  we  may  thus  hope  to  persevere  till  we  make 
New  England  a  garden,  and  the  wild  places  to  blossom 
as  the  rose. 

All,  without  exception,  are  invited  to  join  us  for  the 
promotion  of  knowledge.  We  will  give  them  certifi- 
cates of  membership  for  life,  if  they  will  take  so  deep 
an  interest  in  our  institution  ;  and  we  hereby  promise 
to  communicate  as  much  information  to  any  member 
as  he  shall  communicate  to  us. 


ORCHARDS. 

We  would  not  say  much  on  orchards  at  this  time 
of  year  were  we  not  constantly  reminded,  winter  and 
summer,  as  we  pass  along  the  road,  of  the  amount  of 
labor  that  has  been  thrown  wholly  away  by  inefficient 
attempts  to  plant  an  apple-orchard.  We  have  come 
to  the  conclusion,  from  the  orchards  we  have  observed 
in  our  various  travels,  that  the  owners  of  ninety-nine 
in  a  hundred  had  generally  thrown  away  their  labors, 
and  that  the  orchards  they  attempted  to  plant  were 
only  a  nuisance  to  their  grounds.  These  lands  were 
generally  quite  rich  enough  for  trees  of  this  kind. 
This  was  not  the  evil.  The  trees  were  not  well  se- 
lected at  the  first  ;  they  were  not  carefully  taken  up ; 
they  were  not  properly  set  in  the  ground  ;  they  were 
not  tilled  after  setting ;  and  the  cattle,  in  most  cases, 
were  called  in  to  trim  the  trees.     It  was  an  old  max- 


12  ORCHARDS. 

im,  that  he  who  plants  an  orchard,  plants  it  for  the  next 
generation  ;  we  should  say,  for  his  cattle  to  rub  against, 
or  for  his  hogs,  that  were  fond  of  the  bark  of  the  trees. 

Now  he  that  plants  an  orchard  need  not  make  up 
his  mind  that  he  is  necessarily  at  work  for  others ;  and 
we  hope,  if  we  can  but  make  him  believe  he  is  at  work 
for  himself,  and  is  not  an  hireling,  or  disinterested,  he 
will  proceed  in  his  labor  with  faithfulness  and  skill. 

We  will  warrant  him,  if  he  will  exercise  any  com- 
mon degree  of  judgment,  a  good  crop  of  apples  within 
five  years  of  his  transplanting ;  and,  if  he  plants  an 
acre,  he  shall  have  winter  and  fall  fruit  enough  for  a 
dozen  in  a  family. 

Now  to  the  work.  His  land  should  have  been  tilled 
the  year  before  setting  his  trees,  and  made  as  rich  as 
usual  for  Indian  corn.  It  should  be  ploughed  in  the 
spring,  before  setting  the  trees,  and  well  harrowed. 
This  ploughing  need  not  be  deeper  than  for  corn.  It 
is  a  great  error  to  set  trees  deep  in  the  earth :  some  do 
it  to  procure  moisture  for  the  tree,  some  to  make  room 
to  thrust  in  a  quantity  of  manure,  and  some  so  that  the 
tree  may  have  a  firm  support,  and  not  be  racked  by  the 
winds. 

Now  we  say  to  you,  brethren,  imitate  none  of  these 
modes.  A  tree  set  deep  is  set  in  the  poorest  earth  : 
place  your  trees  so  that  the  roots  may  have  the  richest. 
Never  put  manure  of  any  description  about  the  roots,  if 
you  would  have  your  trees  live.  Place  nothing  but 
good  garden  mould  next  the  roots.  Give  them  suffi- 
cient room.  Make  the  hole  for  them  hroad,  but  not 
deep. 

When  you  have  covered  the  roots  with  good  garden 
mould,  and  spread  out  the  fibres  so  as  not  to  crowd  a 
peck  of  them  into  one  heap.  Roots  are  not  fond  of 
close  intimacy :  like  bachelors,  they  always  prefer  a 
separate  bed  ;  and,  like  old  maids,  they  should  always 
have  one.  When  you  have  covered  these  roots  with 
good  soil,  take  from  your  cow-yard  any  coarse  litter 


ORCHARDS.  13 

that  will  retain  moisture,  and  place  it  around  the  tree, 
treading  it  down  close,  so  that  it  shall  form  a  support 
to  the  tree.  This  litter  should  lie  several  inches  thick 
after  it  has  been  trod  doAvn.  If  you  have  none  of  this 
litter,  coarse  manure  may  be  used  :  old  stack  hay  or 
straw  will  answer  the  purpose.  This  litter  must  lie 
here  through  the  season,  and  be  kept  trod  down  close. 
Now,  you  need  no  stake  to  gall  the  trees :  your  litter 
is  a  sufficient  prop.  You  need  put  no  water  about  the 
roots  ;  for  your  litter  or  coarse  hay  impedes  evaporation 
to  such  a  degree,  that  the  earth  under  it  will  continue 
moist  through  the  whole  summer.  If  the  tree  is  racked 
a  little  by  the  winds,  so  much  the  better :  it  is  thus 
taught  early  to  rely  on  itself  for  support.  A  staked 
tree  is  like  a  spoiled  child,  —  spoiled  with  too  much 
nursing.  The  litter  about  the  tree  will  prevent  the 
racking  by  the  winds,  and  the  opening  of  the  ground 
to  let  the  air  to  the  roots,  and  will  save  you  the  trouble 
of  hoeing  or  tilling  for  the  first  year.  No  weeds  will 
grow  under  this  litter,  no  grass, — the  two  great  obsta- 
cles to  the  extension  of  the  roots.  Your  soil  will  thus 
be  kept  mellow,  and  porous,  and  moist. 

In  autumn,  before  any  snow  falls,  you  must  remove 
all  the  litter  that  has  not  become  rotten,  to  a  distance 
from  the  trees.  You  will  thus  give  some  offence  to 
mice,  that  are  always  fond  of  making  their  bed,  like 
politicians,  close  to  some  towering  object  that  may 
afford  them  future  support.  If  your  cats  have  done 
their  duty,  and  killed  off  their  fresh-meat  stock  in  due 
time,  you  have  nothing  farther  to  do  the  first  season. 
But,  if  your  cats  have  been  negligent,  and  got  their 
rations  out  of  your  commissariat  rather  than  glean 
them  abroad  in  honorable  services  in  the  field,  you 
must  go  out,  as  soon  as  the  first  snow  has  fallen,  and 
tread  it  down  close  about  the  roots  of  your  trees. 
Your  field-mice  must  now  seek  some  other  habitation, 
in  case  they  had  commenced  building  as  squatters  on 
your  soil,  and  you  need  be  at  no  further  trouble  through 
2* 


14  ORCHARDS. 

the  winter ;  for  they,  like  the  Oherokees,  are  not  for 
vohintary  immigration  in  the  midst  of  snows.  Now 
your  trees  are  well  set.  They  have  not  only  put  out 
the  leaf,  but  their  limbs  have  extended  —  if  you  saw 
to  the  work  yourself — from  half  a  foot  to  a  foot  each 
way.  They  will  need  but  very  little  trimming  this 
second  season,  if  you  trimmed  them  a  little  on  setting 
them.  They  must  have  top.  Their  leaves  are  their 
lungs ;  and  a  good  proportion  of  leaves  are  indicative 
of  good  health,  as  good  lungs  are  in  animals.  What 
will  you  do  with  your  trees  this  second  summer  ?  Will 
you  suffer  the  grass  and  weeds  to  draw  away  all  mois- 
ture from  the  neighborhood  of  the  roots,  and  occupy 
the  space  intended  for  them  ?  We  trust  not.  Keep 
your  land  in  tillage  three  or  four  years  at  the  least. 
You  may  raise  exhausting  crops,  if  you  will  apply 
manure ;  you  may  raise  beans  or  drilled  turnips,  with- 
out manuring  this  season ;  you  may  sow  tbrnips, 
broad-cast,  as  late  as  the  first  of  July,  without  injury 
to  the  trees ;  in  fine,  you  may  plant  almost  any  thing 
among  your  trees,  and  they  will  grow  quite  as  fast  as 
they  should  grow,  provided  always  you  keep  up  good 
tillage. 

On  the  first  of  October,  in  the  fourth  year,  we  will 
call  on  you — -in  case  you  took  your  trees  from  our 
nursery  —  and  help  you  pick  half  a  dozen  barrels  of 
Avinter  apples  from  an  acre  of  trees.  If  this  happens 
not  to  be  a  bearing  year,  we  shall  wait  one  year  longer, 
and  then  give  you  a  friendly  call,  and  see  that  you 
have  appointed  some  tivo-legged  animal  to  trim,  in 
preference  to  such  as  sometimes,  for  want  of  proper 
instruments,  cut  a  little  too  close,  and  do  not  leave  the 
body  quite  so  smooth  as  it  might  be  left  with  a  knife. 

More  may  be  said  next  week  on  this  subject,  if  you 
will  draw  your  chair  up  close,  so  that  this  everlasting 
clatter  on  the  pavements  shall  not  interrupt  our  con- 
verse.    Will  you  call  at  our  office  again  1 


SWAMP    LANDS.  15 


SWAMP  LANDS. 


As  a  general  rule,  we  may  safely  assume,  that  our 
low  lands  are  our  best  lands ;  not  the  best  for  corn,  or 
potatoes,  or  rye,  or  oats,  or  barley  —  we  have  high 
and  dry  lands  enough  for  all  these  —  but  there  is  still 
another  harvest  more  valuable  than  either  one  of  them. 
For  grass,  these  low  lands  are  preferable  to  any  other ; 
and  grass  is  our  most  profitable  crop.  We  are  not  tell- 
ing what  should  he  most  profitable,  but  what  is.  We 
would  not  dispense  with  the  raising  of  grain ;  bnt,  if 
New  England  must  buy,  why  buy  grain  in  preference 
to  hay,  or  any  production  of  grass  ?  Grass  and  hay 
have  long  been,  they  now  are,  and  they  long  must  be, 
the  most  profitable  harvests.  And  our  low  lands  are 
our  best  lands  for  grass ;  yet  we  suffer  more  of  these 
to  lie  wholly  unimproved  than  any  other  species ! 
Why  is  this  ?  We  fear  to  meddle  with  them.  They 
are  miry ;  the  plough  cannot  be  used,  for  the  ox  is 
not  able  here  to  assist  us ;  hand-hoeing  is  tedious ; 
paring  and  burning  the  surface  is  attended  with  diffi- 
culty. Draining  must  be  attended  to,  and  a  host  of 
troubles  these  meadows  give  birth  to  as  soon  as  we 
attempt  to  reclaim  them.  Hence  we  look  on  from 
year  to  year,  and  see  our  richest  prairies  the  home  of 
the  mud-tortoise,  the  burrow  of  the  musk-rat  and  the 
mink,  the  haunt  of  the  musquito,  and  the  terror  of 
the  nightly  wanderer  who  starts  at  the  grum  salutation 
of  the  bull-frog. 

These  swamps  are  the  natural  receptacle  of  all  the 
rich  particles  of  earth  that  are  washed  down  from  the 
surrounding  highlands.  They  also,  in  many  cases,  are 
made  up  of  a  vegetable  growth,  which  forms  a  rich 
manure,  when  properly  decomposed,  to  be  applied  to 
highlands.  This  vegetable  growth,  in  some  cases,  ad- 
vances rapidly  ;  and  ponds  are  now  becoming  visibly 
less,   in    consequence   of  the   encroaching  grass,  and 


16  TURNIP  VERSUS  POTATO. 

weeds,  and  bushes,  on  their  margins.  These  vegeta- 
bles grow  up  as  high  as  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  then  remain  stationary  for  ages,  till,  by  their  mul- 
tiplication and  their  spreading,  they  fill  the  chasm, 
once  a  pond  of  water.  This  accounts  for  the  perfect 
levelness  of  surface  of  very  extensive  meadows.  That 
these  are  made-lands,  or  recently  made,  compared 
with  other  portions  of  the  creation,  we  have  further 
evidence  from  the  logs  and  leaves  that  are  very  fre- 
quently found  buried  many  feet  below  the  surface. 

There  are  various  modes  of  bringing  these  lands 
under  cultivation  ;  and  these  will  be  stated,  together 
with  the  expense  attending  them,  with  much  accuracy, 
in  some  of  our  future  numbers.  We  mean  to  be  very 
particular  in  these  statements,  for  we  have  made  actual 
trial  of  the  various  modes,  and  are  still  pursuing  the 
work  of  bringing  such  lands  into  English  grass.  At 
present,  we  will  only  say,  generally,  that  we  have 
never  attempted  to  subdue  any  such  lands  without 
complete  success,  and  a  very  profitable  harvest ;  and 
that,  to"  determine  which  of  several  modes  we  should 
adopt  to  subdue  them,  we  should  examine  into  the 
texture  of  the  meadow,  and  the  facilities  for  bringing 
on  materials  to  help  form  the  soil.  When  we  can 
pare  and  burn,  we  want  no  soil  nor  manure  to  be 
carried  on. 


TURNIP  VERSUS  POTATO. 


We  seem  to  be  now  all  agreed  that  more  roots  should 
be  raised  for  the  fattening  of  animals  than  we  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  raising.  Corn  must  be  raised,  but 
it  is  an  expensive  article  for  fattening  beasts.  A  small 
portion   of  corn-meal,    oat-meal,   or   buckwheat-meal, 


TURNIP  VERSUS  POTATO. 


17 


mixed  with  roots,  pumpkins,  squashes,  apples,  &c. 
make  a  good  and  cheap  diet.  Tlie  question  now  is, 
what  roots  shall  we  prefer  ? 

Shall  we  set  aside  the  potato,  the  admiration  and 
theme,  for  half  a  century,  of  a  wondering  set  of  ad- 
mirers, who  have  discovered,  not  only  that  it  does  not 
impoverish,  but  that  it  actually  enriches,  our  soils? 
We  cannot  part  with  the  potato.  When  ripe,  it  is 
wholesome  food :  it  has  become  a  necessary  of  the 
dinner-table.  When  unripe,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
poisonous  articles  we  attempt  to  use  for  food.  Let  us 
have  potatoes  enough  for  the  table  still ;  but,  for  fat- 
tening beasts,  we  can  do  better.  Potatoes  are  said  to 
subdue  the  new-broken  sod,  and  fit  the  ground  for 
future  crops.  We  agree  they  subdue  the  land,  and 
they  oppj^ess  it.  They  exhaust  our  light  soils  more 
than  corn  does,  and  are  not  followed  by  so  good  crops 
as  corn  is,  when  both  have  an  equal  share  of  manure. 
We  are  aware  our  doctrine  is  somewhat  new  :  we  shall 
attempt  to  prove  it  satisfactorily  in  our  future  numbers. 
But  to  the  turnips.  We  think  we  can  raise  three  to 
four  bushels  of  the  yellow  turnip  —  the  ruta  baga  —  as 
easily  as  one  of  potatoes,  and  that  the  turnips  exhaust 
the  soil  much  less  than  they.  All  theory  is  decidedly 
in  favor  of  our  position,  as  the  turnip  has  more  extent 
of  leaf,  more  superficial  surface  to  be  acted  on  by  the 
atmosphere,  than  the  potato  has :  it  consequently  gets 
more  of  its  living  from  the  air,  and  less  from  the  earth. 
Again,  the  turnip  has  but  little  root,  and  cannot  draw 
so  largely  from  the  soil  as  plants  with  more  extended 
ones.  We  can  raise  excellent  turnips  with  a  little  sur- 
face manuring,  and  the  crops  that  follow  are  generally 
good.  Potatoes  require,  in  old  land,  already  subdued, 
much  manuring.  The  crop  of  grass  that  follows  is 
not  equal,  in  our  sandy  loams,  to  the  grass  that  fol- 
lows Indian  corn,  called  by  most  people  a  great  ex- 
hauster. 

The  cost  of  seeding  an  acre  of  potatoes  is  no  small 


18  FACTS    AND    OPINIONS    ON    LIME. 

item.  Sometimes  we  put  on  twenty  bushels  to  the 
acre,  and  the  cost  of  these  is  oftentimes  ten  dollars  in 
planting  time.  Ten  dollars  for  seed !  Mr.  Williams, 
who  obtained  a  premium  for  the  largest  crop,  states 
in  his  report  to  the  Massachusetts  Society,  that  he 
planted  eighty  bushels  of  seed  on  his  acre, — forty 
dollars  worth  of  seed  !  This  is  a  larger  sum  than  the 
whole  crop  of  an  acre  of  corn  brings  on  the  average. 
Then  the  planting  or  dibbling  out  of  eighty  bushels 
of  potatoes  will  make  the  back  ache  of  two  of  our 
stoutest  laborers.  Now  the  seed  for  an  acre  of  ruta 
baga,  properly  sown,  costs  less  than  fifty  cents ;  the 
seed  for  one  acre  of  corn,  twenty-five  cents.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  one  bushel  of  turnips  affords,  when  cooked, 
as  much  nutriment  as  one  of  potatoes.  It  is  true,  there 
are  soils  where  turnips  cannot  be  cultivated  to  good 
advantage,  at  least  not  in  drills ;  but  both  the  yellow 
and  the  white  turnip  may  be  easily  raised  by  sowing 
broad-cast,  and  they  both  delight  in  new  or  unsubdued 
grounds. 

This  subject  will  be  pursued. 


[From  the  Farmers'  Cabinet.] 

FACTS  AND  OPINIONS  OF  LIME. 

"  Examine  all  things,  and  hold  fast  to  that  which  is  good." 

The  extensive  and  increasing  use  of  lime  for  ag- 
ricultural purposes,  renders  it  highly  necessary  that 
farmers  should  be  put  in  possession  of  all  the  leading 
facts  in  relation  to  so  important  an  article,  and  one  in 
which  large  numbers  of  them  are  dealing  annually, 
some  of  whom  have  sustained  loss  from  lack  of  that 
kind  of  knowledge  which  would  enable  them  \o  pro- 
tect their  interest. 


FACTS    AND    OPINIONS    ON    LIME.  19 

It  has  been  ascertained,  from  a  series  of  experiments 
carefully  made  in  England,  by  Bishop  Watson  —  and  it 
is  presumed  that  they  will  apply  equally  well  in  this 
country  —  that,  upon  an  average,  every  ton,  of  2240 
pounds,  of  good  limestone  produced  1292  pounds  of 
quick  lime,  weighed  before  it  was  cold ;  and  that,  when 
it  was  exposed  to  the  air,  it  increased  in  weight  daily, 
at  the  rate  of  a  hundred  weight  per  ton,  for  the  first 
five  or  six  days  after  it  was  drawn  from  the  kiln. 

A  ton  of  fresh  well-burnt  lime  will  absorb  680 
pounds,  or  nearly  one  third  its  weight  of  water,  with- 
out being  slacked  ;  and  a  bushel  of  good  stone  lime, 
when  slacked,  win  measure  two  bushels;  of  course, 
slacked  lime  should  sell  for  one  half  the  price  per 
bushel  of  stone  lime. 

There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  value  of  lime,  de- 
pending on  the  purity  of  the  stone  out  of  which  it  was 
burnt.  Some  lime  contains  one  fourth  or  more  of 
sand  ;  and  often  other  impurities  enter  into  its  compo- 
sition, which  materially  lessen  its  value.  Masons  and 
bricklayers  are  among  the  best  judges  of  lime,  for  they 
know  that  the  purer  it  is,  the  better  it  works,  and 
the  more  sand  may  be  mixed  with  it.  Some  lime  is 
so  poor,  or  contains  so  m.uch  foreign  matter  in  its  com- 
position, as  not  to  admit  of  any  or  only  of  a  very 
small  quantity  of  sand  being  added  to  it  in  making 
mortar.  The  lime  that  is  most  profitable  for  making 
mortar  is  also  most  valuable  for  agricultural  purposes. 
The  purer  lime  is,  the  more  water  it  takes  in,  and  the 
longer  it  is  in  slacking,  and  it  increases  more,  both  in 
weight  and  measure  by  the  process  of  being  slacked, 
than  poor  or  impure  lime  does. 

Water  dissolves  the  alkaline  ingredient  of  lime,  and 
it  has  been  ascertained  that  at  the  freezing  point 
it  dissolves  double  the  quantity  that  boiling  water 
does,  differing  in  this  respect,  perhaps,  from  all  other 
bodies. 

Lime-water,  or  the  alkaline  solution  of  lime,. is  per- 


20  FACTS    AND    OPINIONS    ON    LIME. 

fectly  transparent,  and  possesses  an  acrid,  alkaline  taste, 
somewhat  similar  to  the  ley  from  wood-ashes. 

Dr.  Alston  states  that  one  pound  of  quick  lime  fur- 
nished him  with  600  pounds  of  hme-water  without 
its  being  sensibly  weakened,  and  that  he  continued 
the  application  of  additional  quantities  of  fresh  water 
to  it  for  twenty-six  months. 

It  is  presumed  that  it  is  this  alkaline  solution  of  lime 
that  produces  the  principal  effect  on  the  soil  and  on 
vegetation.  Lime  and  its  solution  are  well  known  to 
be  powerful  antiseptics,  resisting  or  impeding  putri- 
faction  in  animal  or  vegetable  substances,  notwith- 
standing it  has  been  stated  in  many  books  of  agricul- 
ture that  it  promotes  fermentation  and  putrifaction, 
and  renders  bodies  more  quickly  and  readily  soluble 
in  water. 

Gluick  lime,  applied  to  succulent  vegetables,  absorbs 
the  moisture  from  them,  and  renders  them  perfectly 
dry  and  brittle  ;  and,  if  the  quantity  of  lime  be  great 
compared  with  the  vegetable  matter,  combustion  takes 
place,  and  the  vegetables  are  reduced  to  ashes,  but 
are  not  decomposed  in  the  usual  understanding  of  the 
term. 

Lime  spread  on  the  surface  sod  is  in  some  measure 
prevented  by  the  grass  and  the  fibres  of  the  roots  from 
descending  into  the  earth,  and  the  rains  from  time  to 
time  dissolve  it,  and  carry  down  the  alkaline  solution, 
so  as  to  moisten  every  particle  of  the  soil  with  it. 
This  neutralizes  the  acidity  of  the  soil,  and  the  car- 
bonic acid  gas  of  the  atmosphere  converts  the  solution 
into  carbonate  of  lime  in  connection  with  every  parti- 
cle of  earth  it  comes  in  contact  with :  and  this  being 
much  less  adhesive  than  clay,  when  it  comes  to  be 
ploughed,  the  particles  easily  separate ;  and  hence  the 
property  of  lime  in  rendering  the  soil  less  adhesive, 
and  more  readily  penetrated  by  the  roots  of  plants  in 
search  of  food. 

Particles  of  sand  not  being  penetrated  by  moisture, 


FACTS    AND    OPINIONS    ON    LIME.  21 

whe-re  that  predominates,  the  alkahiie  solution  of  the 
lime  passes  between  them  and  becomes  a  carbonate, 
forming  an  adhesive  cement  between  them ;  and  hence 
it  renders  a  sandy  soil  somewhat  more  compact  and 
retentive  of  moisture. 

Where  much  vegetable  matter  abounds  in  a  soil,  it 
will  absorb  and  retain  the  solution  of  lime  as  a  sponge, 
which,  being  converted  in  its  interstices  into  a  car- 
bonate, will  tend  to  impede  its  too  speedy  decomposi- 
tion •  for  vegetable  matter,  in  our  climate,  decomposes 
with  too  much  rapidity  for  plants  to  take  up  the  nutri- 
ment it  aftbrds  as  rapidly  as  it  is  produced,  and  conse- 
quently a  portion  of  it  is  lost  or  dissipated  ;  but,  by  the 
decomposition  being  impeded  or  checked  by  the  car- 
bonate of  lime,  it  proceeds  more  slowly,  and  continues 
to  give  out  food  for  plants  more  gradually,  and  for  a 
much  longer  period  of  time  ;  and  this  corresponds  with 
the  observation  of  our  most  intelligent  farmers,  that, 
where  lime  is  used,  the  manure  or  dung  continues  to 
produce  its  effect  for  a  much  longer  time. 

The  partially  decomposed  vegetable  matter  in  the 
soil  also  operates  as  a  reservoir  for  moisture,  and  gives 
it  out  to  the  adjacent  soil  when  it  becomes  dry,  so 
as  to  keep  up  a  more  perfect  equilibrium  of  moisture, 
which  is  stated  to  be  the  fact  where  lime  is  applied  ; 
for  manure  that  is  only  partially  decomposed  holds 
moistvu'e  in  much  larger  quantities  than  that  which 
is  thoroughly  rotten.  This  may  be  observed  in  every 
dung-heap  in  the  country ;  for  the  straw  holds  the 
moisture  whilst  the  decomposition  is  only  partial,  but 
when  it  becomes  thorough  it  lets  it  loose  ;  and  hence 
we  see  the  essence  of  dung-heaps  running  to  waste 
during  the  summer  season. 

These  views  are  thrown  together  for  the  purpose  of 
arresting  the  attention  of  those  who  are  much  more 
competent  to  discuss  this  intricate  subject  than  the 
writer ;  for  we  find  sometimes  that  even  an  erroneous 
theory,  by  leading  to  discussion,  promotes  the  discovery 
3 


22  ECONOMY. 

of  truth.  It  is  therefore  hoped  that  those  who  are  dis- 
posed to  examine  and  discuss  this  important  subject, 
will  avail  themselves  of  the  Farmers'  Cabinet  for  that 
purpose.  X. 

We  copy  the  above  for  the  purpose  of  eliciting  facts 
and  arguments  as  to  the  operation  of  lime.  We  shall 
not  recommend  this  article  to  our  brethren  as  a  manure, 
until  we  know  more  of  its  virtues.  In  England,  lime 
is  applied  abundantly  to  various  crops.  The  theory  of 
its  operation  is  by  no  means  well  settled.  It  has  com- 
monly been  supposed  that  lime  is  analogous  to  wood- 
ashes,  and"  may  be  used  wherever  they  are  used. 
X.  adopts  the  theory,  that  lime  prevents  the  too  rapid 
decomposition  of  vegetable  matter.  Then  it  must  act 
directly  the  reverse  of  ashes.  They  certainly  hasten 
decomposition.  We  want  more  facts,  and  then  the- 
ory. —  Ed. 


ECONOMY. 

Come,  brother  farmers,  draw  up  rather  closer  now, 
since  we  have  become  a  little  acquainted,  and  let  us 
lay  plans  to  have  an  abundance  next  year,  though 
some  of  us  fell  a  little  short  the  past  season.  The 
governor  tells  us,  in  his  late  message,  that  the  energies 
of  an  enterprising  people  on  a  fertile  soil,  have,  under 
Providence,  much  improved  our  condition.  It  is  en- 
couraging to  have  people  in  high  places  take  notice 
of  us,  and  we  will  show  the  world  that  a  little  com- 
mendation shall  not  be  lost  on  us.  We  wander  :  now 
blow  out  that  candle  on  the  mantel-piece,  for  we  did 
not  meet  this  evening  to  read,  and  we  will  talk  by  that 
fire-light,  which  shineth  enough  to  enlighten  the  whole 


ECONOMY.  23 

room.  A  stove  would  do  the  same,  if  the  doors  of  it 
could  be  kept  open  ;  but  then  we  must  keep  an  extra 
one  of  those  animals  called  ''  help,"  to  take  up  the  dirt 
of  the  floor  and  hearth,  and  cast  it  out  into  the  draught, 
instead  of  brushing  it,  in  a  moment,  into  the  fire-place, 
to  be  mingled  with  the  ashes,  to  be  laid  on  the  corn. 
Economy  must  be  our  word  in  hard  times ;  and  if  you 
find  us  recommending  modes  of  culture  that  are  ex- 
pensive, that  cost  more  than  they  come  to,  why,  stop 
our  paper,  and  say  we  are  leading  you  astray,  and  you 
prefer  to  make  no  advances  in  your  profession.  We 
know  we  are  often  misled  by  theoretical  writers.  We 
know  we  cannot  farm  it  by  book.  We  also  know  we 
cannot  7^e7nain  stationary. 

Look  abroad  and  see  the  designs  of  the  Almighty  in 
his  works  of  wisdom.  Has  he  created  us  of  full  size 
at  once  ?  Has  he  given  us  a  soil  that  needs  no  im- 
provement ?  Has  he  created  any  thing  that  is  not  pro- 
gressing ?  Nothing  is  at  rest.  Our  earth,  our  platform, 
is  flying  through  space  at  the  rate  of  about  2,000,000 
miles  in  a  day.  Man  is  formed  in  weakness.  He 
comes  not  to  maturity  at  once.  His  farm  will  never 
be  perfectly  tilled.  He  must  not  hope  for  more  than 
an  approximation  to  perfection,  but  he  must  advance. 
Let  none  of  us  say  loe  cannot  improve^  we  will  not 
alter. 

The  times  are  changed.  We  cannot  now  send  the 
same  proceeds  to  market  as  formerly.  We  must  not 
raise  grain  in  the  county  of  Middlesex  to  send  to  the 
Boston  market,  as  formerly.  We  must  be  governed, 
in  some  degree,  by  the  prices  in  the  market.  At  the 
present  price  of  pork  and  beef,  we  can  do  well  to  fat- 
ten and  supply  the  market;  but  we  cannot  expect  these 
prices  to  continue,  and  we  must  make  our  calculations 
on  taking  a  more  general  view.  And,  even  at  present 
prices,  we  can  hardly  aff'ord  to  fatten  pork  wholly  on 
grain.  By  the  aid  of  the  dairy  and  of  vegetables  that 
^re  not  saleable,  mixed  with  a  small  portion  of  grain, 


24 


ECONOMY. 


we  can  afford  pork  for  a  little  more  than  half  the  pres- 
ent market  price,  but  we  most  begin  in  season  in  the 
fall.  We  must  not  keep  our  hogs  till  late  in  winter: 
we  must  commence  fattening  as  soon  as  summer  and 
fall  vegetables  are  fit  to  be  plucked,  and  we  should 
quit  before  these  vegetables  are  frozen  and  spoiled. 

Our  soils  in  the  old  and  long-settled  parts  of  the 
country  are  not  what  they  were :  the  first  crops  were 
luxuriant,  and  the  land  then  needed  no  dressing.  We 
have  now  cropped  our  plain  and  easily  tilled  lands  till 
they  have  become  in  a  great  degree  barren  ;  while  our 
rougher  soils,  that  the  plough  was  more  afraid  of,  are 
still  comparatively  rich  :  they  have  not  been  exhausted. 

To  prove  that  much  of  the  soil  of  our  plains  is 
naturally  as  good  as  that  of  rough  and  rocky  lands,  we 
will  only  take  you  by  the  hand  and  show  you  a  first 
crop  after  clearing,  on  such  plain  lands.  You.  see  as 
large  a  growth  here  as  on  any  soil,  and  the  prirjcipal 
reason  why  many  of  these  plains  appear  so  barren  is, 
they  were  too  inviting  to  the  plough.  We  have  tilled 
till  they  are  wholly  exhausted  of  vegetable  matter. 
New  matter  must  be  supplied  ;  and,  if  we  are  not  able  to 
supply  it,  we  cannot  afford  to  pay  taxes  for  the  lands. 
We  will  sell  a  portion,  and,  with  the  capital  thence 
arising,  we  will  make  the  remainder  produce  more  than 
the  whole  did.  This  we  call  the  commencement  of 
economy.  If  you  are  rich,  you  ought  not  to  be  troubled 
with  the  care  of  hundreds  of  acres ;  if  poor,  you  may 
be  pestered  to  hire  the  capital,  to  pay  the  interest,  or 
to  pay  rent.  You  cannot  place  two  hundred  acres  so 
near  your  barns  as  you  can  place  fifty.  On  the  large 
farm  you  have  much  farther  to  cart  your  manure,  much 
farther  to  bring  home  your  produce.  Your  cows  must 
be  driven  twice  a  day  much  farther,  and  if  your  hired 
'^  help  "  can  come  home  as  quick  to  dinner,  they  sel-. 
dom  return  so  quick  to  the  distant  field,  as  to  that  near 
the  house. 


MANURES.  25 


MANURES. 


Brother  farmers,  we  shall  have  much  to  say  to  you 
on  manures.  We  shall  often  interrogate  you  as  to  the 
best  modes  of  making,  preserving,  and  applying 
manures.  These  are  three  important  considerations  in 
our  calling.  It  may  be  thought  by  some  of  you  that 
enough  has  already  been  said  on  the  subject.  Many, 
truly,  have  written  upon  it,  and  some  have  written 
truly.  But  let  us  have  the  sentiments  and  the  experi- 
ence of  practical  men.  From  our  observation  of  the 
practice  of  farmers  in  New  England,  we  are  satisfied 
that,  on  an  average,  they  lose  one  half  the  advantage 
they  might  derive  from  their  manures.  We  lose,  in 
the  first  place,  by  neglect  of  gathering  it  together  ; 
secondly,  by  suffering  it  to  spoil  in  the  heap,  for  Avant 
of  proper  mixing  ;  and,  thirdly,  by  a  wrong  application 
of  it  to  the  soil.  The  liquid  portion  of  it  is  allowed  to 
be  as  valuable  as  the  solid  ;  and  this,  in  many  instances, 
is  wholly  lost.  We  often  suff"er  a  mass  to  dry  up,  or 
evaporate,  by  lying  thinly  spread  over  a  yard.  We 
often  lose  by  heaping  it  together  and  suffering  it  to 
burn.  We  lose  much  by  spreading  on  the  surface  of 
the  field  green  manure  that  cannot  be  covered  with  the 
harrow ;  and  we  lose  more  by  laying  it  out  in  small 
heaps  of  one  or  two  shovels  full  to  a  hill,  and  planting 
our  seeds  in  those  heaps,  We  lose  in  winter  by  heav- 
ing it  out  at  the  windows,  and  suffering  it  to  freeze  in 
a  scattered  situation. 

We  assert,  with  the  utmost  confidence,  that  we  can, 
by  taking  proper  care  of  our  means,  make  every  part 
and  parcel  of  our  farms  rich ;  that  is,  so  rich  that  one 
acre  shall  feed  one  cow  through  the  summer,  and 
another  acre  shall  give  us  sixty  bushels  of  corn  ;  and 
this  without  buying  a  single  load  of  manure  from  the 
stables.  This  matter  must  be  better  attended  to  by  us 
who  occupy  a  soil  that  has  been  cropped,  and  mis- 
3* 


26  THE    ROHAN    POTATO. 

managed  till  much  of  it  now  hardly  pays  the  expense 
of  cultivating. 

This  must  not  be.  The  prices  of  our  produce  will 
justify  us  in  making  more  strenuous  efforts  to  supply 
the  demand.  In  some  of  our  numbers  we  shall  go 
more  into  detail,  and  offer  some  practical  hints  on  this 
vital  principle  of  agriculture,  this  life-blood  of  our 
hopes  of  improving  our  natal  soil.  We  promise  you,  in 
the  mean  time,  we  will  not  lead  you  into  extravagant 
expenditures  of  outlay,  that  you  will  never  see  returned 
in  this  generation.  We  will  leave  all  that  to  theoreti- 
cal calculators,  who  never  handled  the  spade  or  the 
fork,  and  we  will  discourse  to  you  "  of  what  yourselves 
do  know."  We  will  endeavor  to  stir  you  up  by  way 
of  remembrance  in  such  a  way  that,  like  Paul,  you 
shall  greatly  magnify  your  office. 


THE  ROHAN  POTATO. 


To  the  Mditor  of  the  Cultivator  : 

Dear  Sir, — Appreciating  the  motives  which  have  in- 
duced you  to  commence  a  paper,  devoted  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  farmer,  and  at  the  same  time  affording  an 
agreeable  and  interesting  family  paper,  with  the  hope 
of  adding  something  to  the  value  of  its  pages,  I  have 
taken  the  advantage  of  a  few  leisure  moments  to  give 
you  some  observations  upon  that  remarkable  vegetable, 
the  name  of  which  stands  at  the  head  of  this  article. 

Potatoes  are  a  crop  to  which  our  farmers  do  not  pay 
sufficient  attention.  When  it  is  considered  how  valua- 
ble an  article  the  potato  is,  and  that  there  is  probably 
scarcely  a  family  in  the  New  England  States  who  do 
not  have  them  upon  their  tables  at  least  once  a  day,  it 
would  seem  that  there  is  no  product  of  the  farm   to 


THE    ROHAN    POTATO.  27 

which  more  attention  should  be  paid,  to  some  the 
most  profitable  kinds.  Maine  is  looked  to  for  the  sup- 
ply of  superior  sorts  of  this  vegetable  ;  and,  though  we 
will  not  deny  that  the  soil  and  climate  of  that  State  are 
every  way  suited  to  the  potato,  yet  we  believe  that, 
by  proper  culture,  and  attention  to  the  sowing  of  seed, 
crops  of  as  excellent  quality  may  be  raised  in  any  other 
part  of  New  England. 

The  very  fact  that  the  potato  is  so  commonly  and 
generally  used  at  the  tables  of  both  the  rich  and 
the  j30or,  and  that  the  crop  rarely  if  ever  fails,  is  the 
cause  of  their  being  so  neglected.  What  we  would 
throw  to  hogs,  or  give  to  the  cow,  does  not  seem  worth 
the  while  to  spend  time  about,  to  improve  the  product 
or  the  quality  of  the  article,  as  the  gain  would  be  less 
than  the  labor.  But  this  is  a  widely  mistaken  notion. 
And  in  the  Rohan  potato  there  is  abundant  proof  of  the 
fallacy  of  this  mode  of  reasoning. 

We  hope^  at  some  future  time,  to  give  some  account 
of  all  the  principal  kinds  of  potatoes  that  are  generally 
grown  ;  but  want  of  room  now  compels  me  to  cut  short 
any  further  general  remarks,  and  come  at  once  to  the 
Rohan. 

A  good  deal  has  been  said  in  the  agricultural  papers 
about  it,  and  what  I  shall  state  will  be,  in  part,  a  con- 
densed account  of  the  various  statements  which  have 
been  published  respecting  their  productiveness,  as  it  is 
for  this  quality  that  1  mostly  look  upon  its  value.  The 
history  of  its  origin  has  appeared  in  some  of  the  jour- 
nals, but,  as  it  may  not  have  met  the  eyes  of  your 
readers,  I  shall  give  if  now  as  briefly  as  possible. 

The  Rohan  potato  takes  its  name  from  the  Prince 
de  Rohan,  of  Geneva,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  city  it 
was  raised  about  the  year  1830.  The  man  who  origi- 
nated it  was  so  choice  of  it,  and  regarded  it  so  highly, 
that  king  William  could  not  get  him  to  part  with  a 
single  tuber.  He  cultivated  it  in  a  little  walled  enclo- 
sure ,•  had  them  taken  up  only  in  his  presence ;  kept 


28  THE    ROHAN    POTATO. 

them  under  lock  and  key ;  and  they  were  cooked  and 
given  to  his  cattle  only  before  his  own  eyes.  No  one 
could  get  them.  The  prince  Rohan  having  a  splendid 
collection  of  cactuses,  and  among  them  some  kinds 
which  the  possessor  of  the  potatoes  took  a  great  fancy 
to,  he  begged  the  prince  to  give  him  some  ;  but  the 
prince  would  only  do  this  for  some  of  the  potatoes, 
money  being  no  object.  The  amateur  consented,  and 
gave  him  two  potatoes,  with  a  promise  upon  his  honor 
that  he  would  never  send  any  of  them  to  Holland, 
Belgium,  England,  Prussia,  or  Germany.  By  his  for- 
tunately not  including  France  and  Switzerland,  the 
prince  was  at  liberty,  without  forfeiting  his  word,  to 
send  some  to  France,  which  he  did ;  and  from  thence 
they  were  imported  to  this  country  in  the  spring  of 
1836.  So  much  for  their  history,  which  is  very  sin- 
gular. The  produce  of  this  potato  in  Switzerland 
was  so  great  that  it  would  hardly  be  believed':  three 
potatoes  weighed,  respectively,  13  lbs.  7  oz.,  11  lbs.  9 
oz.,  and  9  lbs.  13  oz. ! 

What  I  have  now  to  state  relates  to  their  growth  in 
this  country.  Mr.  Thompson,  of  Catskill,  N.  Y.  was 
the  first  who  received  any  of  these  potatoes,  eight  or 
ten  of  which  cost  forty-jive  dollars.  Judge  Buel,  after 
cultivating  the  Rohan  two  seasons,  gives  the  follow- 
ing as  his  reasons  for  recommending  them  to  the 
public : 

First,  because  their  quality  for  the  table  will  jus- 
tify it.  If  not  superior,  they  are  good.  The  flesh 
is  yellow,  solid,  and  of  good  flavor. 

Secondly,  because  they  admit  of  great  economy 
in  seed.  Two  eyes  is  a  sufficiency  (and  many  of  the 
tubers  have  30  or  40)  to  plant  a  hill,  and  three  or  four 
bushels  to  plant  an  acre  of  ground. 

Thirdly,  because  they  require  comparatively  little 
labor  in  harvesting,  a  man  being  able  to  dig  thrice  as 
many  of  them  in  a  day  as  of  ordinary  kinds.  The 
tubers  are  very  large,  110  of  the  largest  completely 


THE    ROHAN    POTATO.  29 

filling  a  flour  barrel.  Twenty-seven  bushels  were  dug- 
ia  our  presence  in  one  hour^  (the  ioy.s  being  [previ- 
ously] pulled)  by  one  man,  at  moderate  labor. 

Fourthly,  because  they  yield  an  abundant  crop: 
from  85  rods  of  ground  were  gathered  175  bushels, 
while  the  common  kind  did  not  give  half  a  crop. 

The  experiments  of  other  cultivators  fully  certify  to 
the  truth  of  Judge  Buel's.  The  following  are  instances 
of  their  produce  the  past  dry  season,  when  other  kinds 
were  in  many  instances  not  worth  digging  : 

Mr.  VYoodrutf,  of  Windsor,  Conn,  from  about  twenty 
potatoes,  weighing  a  fraction  over  a  quarter  of  a  pound 
each,  raised  tioenty  bushds  and  a  half.  The  average 
of  the  most  productive  hills  was  8  lbs.  10  oz.  :  the 
largest  single  tuber  weighed  2  lbs.  13  oz.  Mr.  W. 
spread  the  surface  of  the  ground  with  barn-yard  manure, 
and  turned  it  in  with  a  plough  ;  furrowed  ten  inches 
deep;  covered  the  seed  with  four  inches  of  earth. 

Hon.  Wm.  Clark,  Jr.  of  Springfield,  from  one  potato, 
raised  one  bushel. 

Mr.  C.  C.  Nichols,  of  Northampton,  from  three  pecks ^ 
raised  eighteen  bushels. 

Mr.  Roswell  Hubbard,  of  Hadley,  imm.  four  pounds, 
obtained  1173  pounds!  293  produced  to  one  planted. 

One  gentleman,  in  the  i^eighborhood  of  Catskill, 
from  one  and  a  half  pounds,  raised  ninety-iico  and  a 
half  pounds ;  and  another,  from  one  pounds  raised 
ninety-three  and  a  half  pounds. 

Mr.  Hager,  of  Oxford,  Corm.  from  13  oz.  tubers, 
produced,  in  a  dry  loam,  144  lbs. 

Many  other  similar  experiments  could  be  given,  but 
we  doubt  not  that  these  are  ample  enough  to  leave  no 
doubts  of  their  productiveness. 

As  to  their  value  as  a  potato  for  the  table,  I  do  not 
think  they  have  been  fairly  tried.  Prince  Rohan 
speaks  of  them  as  being  extremely  farinaceous,  and,  if 
so,  they  must  be  a  fine  potato.  The  high  price  which 
they   command    will,  for   the    present,    prevent    their 


30  BROTHER     MECHANICS. 

merits  being  fully  tested,  as  few  who  raise  them  are 
willing  to  eat  them  when  they  are  so  valuable.  As 
soon  as  they  are  plentiful,  this  will  be  decided.  One 
merit  they  possess,  which  few  other  large  potatoes  do, 
and  that  is,  the  large  tubers  are  not  hollow. 

In  cultivation  they  require  good  land,  deep  plough- 
ing, and  frequent  hoeings,  to  make  them  show  their  full 
character :  in  light  soils,  they  produce  a  crop  where  the 
St.  Helena  and  others  have  failed.  The  hills  should 
be  about  four  feet  apart,  and  only  two  or  three  eyes 
planted  in  each.  The  stalks  grow  from  six  to  eight 
feet  high,  and  prince  Rohan  states  that  he  supported 
them  on  stakes :  this,  however,  was  only  done  to  make 
them  produce  as  much  as  possible.  They  should  be 
planted  very  early,  as  they  are  a  late  variety,  and  should 
not  be  dug  until  late  in  autumn. 

I  would  invite  every  farmer  to  try  this  potato,  and 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  it  will  be  found  to 
be  all  that  it  has  been  recommended.  Agricola. 


BROTHER  MECHANICS. 


We  were  inquired  of  the  other  day,  by  one  of  the 
brethren,  what  right  and  title  we  had  to  the  appellation 
of  mechanic.  Look  at  the  "  great  organ  of  all  agricul- 
tural communication  to  the  public "  of  Wednesday, 
January  2d,  and  you  will  see  we  are  dubbed  a  knight 
of  the  order.  We  hope  you  will  not  be  so  much  of- 
fended at  our  admission  into  good  company  as  the 
Indian  was,  when  the  missionary  constantly  called  him 
brother. 

"  You  say  '  brother,  brother,'  "  said  the  Indian.  "  How 
qame  Ave  brother?" 


BROTHER    MECHANICS.  31 

'^  O,"  said  the  missionary,  ''  you  know  we  all  sprang 
from  Adam." 

"  Ugh  !  ngh  !  "  said  the  Indian  ;  "  me  glad  't  aint  no 
nearer." 

We  shall  not  let  you  know  at  once  the  full  extent 
of  our  mechanical  genius ;  but  you  shall  hear  some- 
thing of  it  each  week.  We  fear  you  did  not  well 
understand  the  communication  of  last  week,  from  our 
Dorchester  correspondent,  on  horse-shoeing.  It  was 
hastily  written,  and  might  be  made  plainer.'  He  pro- 
poses that  each  side  of  the  shoe  should  be  made  wider 
than  common,  so  as  to  leave  a  less  cavity  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  snow-ball ;  and  to  let  that  cavity  be  wider 
behind  than  elsewhere,  so  that  a  ball  would  not  stick 
fast  in  the  shoe  :  thus,  A . 

The  blacksmith  has  one  of  the  best  trades  for  the 
winter  season.  He  is  at  no  expense  for  heat  or  for 
light,  and  can  pursue  his  occupation  to  good  advantage 
in  the  evening.  He  can  then  prepare  his  shoes  and 
other  articles,  so  that  customers  may  not  be  hindered. 
He  must  make  his  horse-nails ;  but  he  now  makes 
them  from  wrought  rods,  that  are  drawn  out  by  ma- 
chinery, and  that  are  purchased  at  but  little  higher 
cost  than  his  bar-iron.  Indeed,  he  can  purchase  rods 
drawn  of  almost  any  size  ;  and  when  he  is  supplied 
with  an  assortment,  his  work  is  often  half  done  for 
him  by  machinery. 

The  printer  is  daily  working  wonders.  Commit 
your  thoughts  to  paper :  fill  a  page,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes he  will  hold  up  before  you  an  image  of  your  own 
ideas  in  so  clear  a  light  that  you  are  at  first  startled  at 
the  completeness  of  the  reflection.  It  gives  you  back 
almost  as  ready  an  image  of  your  thoughts  as  the 
mirror  does  of  your  person. 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  never  thought  of  this 
method.  They  could  imprint  with  the  pen  ,•  but 
written  letters  are  so  imperfect,  they  are  not  to  be 
compared  with  the  steel  type.     It  is  a  curious  fact, 


32  TRANSPLANTING. 

that  the  Romans  made  use  of  stamps  containing  letters 
enough  for  a  whole  name.  With  these  they  branded 
casks,  &c.  ;  but  it  did  not  occur  to  them  that,  by  set- 
ting and  transposing  single  letters^  they  could  apply 
the  rules  of  permutation  and  combination  almost  to 
infinity.  They  approximated  to  the  art  of  printing  in 
the  use  of  their  stamp,  with  a  number  of  letters  joined. 
Had  the  thought  occurred  to  them  of  the  transposition 
of  single  letters  in  their  plate,  the  world  might  have 
advanced  in  knowledge,  and  avoided  that  gulf  of  igno- 
rance—  the  dark  ages  —  through  which,  for  a  long 
time,  it  was  compelled  to  grope,  for  the  want  of  readi- 
er means  of  communicating  intelligence. 


TRANSPLANTING. 


Trees  for  transplanting  should  be  taken  from  the 
nursery  before  they  become  too  large.  Two  or  three 
years'  growth  from  the  bud  or  the  graft  is  better  than 
a  longer  term  for  the  apple  or  the  pear,  the  peach  or 
the  plum.  When  a  tree  is  of  longer  growth,  the  root? 
are  extended  farther  than  we  are  aAvare.  To  take  it 
up,  we  dig  about  it,  and  cut  off  a  part  of  its  roots :  we 
then  seize  hold  of  the  body,  and  attempt  to  pull  it  up  ; 
it  stands  firm  :  we  rack  and  twist  it,  and  get  out  of  all 
patience  with  its  tenacity  of  life.  An  assistant  takes 
hold  to  help  pull  it  up,  and  to  draw  out  some  of  the 
roots  full  length.  After  shattering  one  or  two  of  the 
principal  roots  close  to  the  body,  one  root  is  sometimes 
drawn  out  nearly  whole,  and  three  feet  long.  These 
shattered  roots  are  like  a  shattered  knee  or  ankle  : 
amputation  only  will  prevent  a  lingering  death.  If 
large  trees  are  transplanted,  they  should  be  taken  up 


TRANSPLANTING. 


33 


with  great  care.  It  is  not  of  so  much  consequence  to 
take  up  long  roots  as  it  is  to  preserve  from  fracture  that 
portion  of  the  roots  which  is  nearest  to  the  body  or 
stump.  Let  the  extremities  of  the  roots  be  cut  shck, 
and  a  thousand  new  fibres  will  shoot  out  for  the  one 
cut  off,  and  will  soon  afford  nourishment  to  your  trans- 
planted tree,  provided  always  that  your  roots  are  not 
large.  We  recollect  hearing  the  venerable  J.  Lowell, 
Esq.  say  he  thought  he  never  gained  by  taking  from 
the  nursery  trees  that  were  more  than  about  five  feet 
high.  We  give  such  trees  more  proportionate  attention 
than  we  give  to  larger  ones,  and  they  are  not  so  likely 
to  come  to  a  stand.  With  proper  attention,  they  will 
grow  and  extend  their  limbs  the  first  year ;  and  the 
vessels  in  the  woody  fibre  will  not  become  contracted 
and  dry,  but  will  keep  open  and  healthy.  If  we  once 
suffer  the  transplanted  tree  to  come  to  a  stand,  and 
grow  none,  or  not  extend  itself,  for  one  year,  we  may 
as  well  pull  it  up.  It  is  Hke  a  stinted  calf  or  pig,  and 
will  never  regain  its  standing. 

After  a  few  years'  healthy  growth,  if  grass-roots  are 
suffered  to  withdraw  the  moisture  from  the  ground 
about  the  tree,  they  will  not  spoil  it.  If  the  top  has 
not  been  trimmed  too  much  —  as  gross  an  evil  as  too 
much  government  in  a  family  —  the  tree  will  soon 
form  such  a  pavilion  as  to  stint  the  growth  of  the  grass, 
and  may,  in  a  rich  soil,  successfully  contend  against  it : 
still  it  is  best  to  plough  occasionally,  and  keep  the  land 
light.  It  is  noticed  that  apple-trees  growing  in  a  clus- 
ter come  to  bear  much  sooner  than  those  that  stand  far 
apart.  The  reason  is,  they  sooner  afford  a  shade,  and 
check  the  growth  of  the  grass  about  their  roots.  The 
soil  is  loose  under  the  branches ;  and  the  slender  grass 
that  barely  subsists  about  their  roots,  if  mown  and 
made  into  hay,  is  worth  but  little.  So  a  single  tree, 
when  its  branches  have  extended  and  spread  far  and 
wide,  will  often  defend  itself  against  the  grass,  which 
is  ever  intruding  where  there  is  the  least  chance  for 
4 


34  TRANSPLANTING. 

subsistence,  and,  like  a  Scotchman,  will  get  a  living 
where  other  plants  would  starve. 

But  trees  that  grow  in  grass-fields  rarely  produce 
such  fair  fruit  as  those  about  which  we  keep  the  earth 
light  and  well  tilled.  This  is  an  important  considera- 
tion for  those  who  raise  apples  for  the  market ;  and  it 
is  advisable  to  set  our  trees  in  straight  lines,  that  we 
may  plough  among  them  with  as  little  injury  as  possi- 
ble. Now  you  do  not  like  to  put  a  plough  in  your 
orchard,  if  you  can  avoid  it ;  you  fear  you  may  bark 
the  trees ;  you  know  ^rou  will  not  raise  half  a  crop  of 
corn,  or  of  potatoes,  or  of  grain.  You  therefore  put  a 
little  chip-dung  about  the  roots  of  the  tree  ;  and  in  time 
you  raise  quite  a  hillock  there,  which  seems  to  turn  all 
the  moisture  from  the  sweet  heavens  away  from  your 
trees.  This  chip-stuff  is  the  very  worst  article  you 
can  apply.  It  is  not  only  too  bulky  for  its  strength  — 
producing  a  bank  where  you  would  prefer  a  hollow  — 
but  it  is  usually  full  of  worms  and  insects,  that  often 
get  on  and  ride  your  tree  to  death.  Pray  let  us  give 
you  a  little  advice  on  this  one  point.  It  will  be  valua- 
ble not  only  for  Middlesex  and  for  Worcester,  for  Essex 
and  for  Norfolk,  but  for  all  New  England :  for  the 
United  States  and  her  Territories  ;  and  as  for  the  Cana- 
das,  —  why,  we  think  we  would  better  let  them  man- 
age their  own  affairs.  Instead  of  planting  among 
orchard  trees,  and  exposing  them  to  the  repeated  visits 
of  the  plough  and  hoe  during  summer,  we  plough  the 
ground  about  the  first  week  in  September  as  well  as 
we  can,  laying  all  the  vegetable  growth  beneath  the 
sod :  put  on  a  few  loads  of  fine  manure,  if  we  have  it 
to  spare ;  if  not,  we  do  without  it,  as  it  is  not  our  object 
now  to  get  a  great  growth  of  grass.  We  then  roll  the 
furrows  down  close,  harrow,  and  sow  our  seed  as  in 
other  cases  where  are  no  trees.  Six  or  eight  pounds 
of  clover-seed  should  be  reserved  for  an  acre,  to  be 
thrown  on  some  time  in  winter.  Nothing  but  herds- 
grass  and  red-top  are  sown  in  autumn.     Clover  is  apt 


TRANSPLANTING.  35 

to  be  winter-killed,  if  it  first  springs  in  the  autumn ; 
and,  if  we  sow  in  winter,  it  is  buried  deep  enough 
before  the  first  of  May.  In  this  way,  with  a  little 
care,  we  avoid  injuring  the  trees,  we  render  the  land 
light  —  it  will  keep  light  three  or  four  years — we  get 
as  much  grass  for  the  scythe  as  we  ought  to  get  from 
an  orchard,  or  as  we  can  cleverly  dry  on  the  ground, 
and  we  perform  the  whole  at  little  expense.  If  we 
have  no  manure  to  spare,  we  plough ;  and  the  repeated 
ploughing  in  of  green  crops  always  enriches  a  soil  from 
which  we  take  no  grain. 

When  our  orchards  are  in  rough,  rocky  land,  we 
cannot  use  this  process  to  so  good  advantage  ;  and  the 
next  best  thing  for  a  bearing  orchard  is  a  drove  of  hogs. 
In  one  month,  they  will  wholly  change  the  complexion 
of  your  trees.  A  deep-green  leaf  will  be  substituted 
for  a  pale  or  yellow  one  ;  and  the  whole  orchard,  like 
a  tidy  family,  will  show  by  its  dress  that  it'  has  been 
visited  by  good  company.  This  mixed  company  must 
be  watched  a  little,  to  see  that  it  do  not  run  riot,  as  the 
company  once  did  at  Gen.  Jackson's  levee.  He  dis- 
continued the  levees  without  ceremony  ;  but  you  may 
continue  your  visitors  in  place  by  fixing,  as  Black 
Hawk  did,  a  jewel  in  the  nose,  that  serves  to  civilize 
the  race  faster  than  new  rum  ever  did  any  of  the  Indian 
tribes. 

Some  of  our  breeds  of  grunters  never  meddle  with 
the  bark  of  the  apple-tree  ;  but  it  is  well  to  have  an 
eye  on  our  most  clever  servants,  and,  by  giving  them 
a  pretty  good  living,  remove  as  far  as  possible  all  temp- 
tation to  trespass  on  our  trees  or  on  our  treasure.  These 
animals  should  be  removed  from  the  orchard  by  the 
first  of  September,  or  before,  into  their  parlor  and 
dining-room,  where  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  see 
so  much  company  as  to  keep  them  up  late  o'  nights, 
and  cut  short  their  sleep. 


36  ON    SEEDING    DOWN. 


ON   SEEDING  DOWN. 


Much  discussion  has  taken  place  as  to  the  proper 
season  for  seeding  lands  down  to  grass.  It  would  seem 
hardly  a  proper  time,  in  Massachusetts,  to  sow  much  in 
January,  but  you  cannot  choose  a  better  month  for 
sowing  your  clover-seed,  provided  there  is  snow  enough 
to  show  your  tracks.  Indeed,  we  may  sow  this  seed 
in  any  of  the  winter  months,  if  the  ground  was  suitably 
prepared  in  the  autumn. 

Lands  that  have  been  planted,  and  are  to  be  sown 
with  grain,  should  generally  be  laid  down  to  grass  in 
the  spring  season.  Sometimes  this  is  delayed  till  fall, 
and  then  the  stubble  is  ploughed  in,  and  the  seed  is 
sown  on  the  furrow ;  but  this  seldom  succeeds  so  well 
as  spring  sowing.  The  stubble-ground  dries  so  quick 
in  August,  or  in  September,  that  much  of  the  seed  never 
vegetates,  and  much  of  it  often  dies  after  sprouting. 
This  often  happens  also  with  spring  sowing ;  but  if 
you  can  sow  early  in  spring,  you  run  less  risk  of  losing 
your  seed,  than  to  sow  it  on  stubble-ground.  If  your 
land  be  light,  and  inclining  to  sand,  you  cannot  do 
better  than  throw  twenty  bushels  of  wood-ashes  on  an 
acre  at  the  time  of  sowing,  or  soon  after  your  grain  is 
up.  These  draw  moisture  to  your  plants,  and  preserve 
them  better  than  any  article  you  can  apply. 

Ye  have  heard  it  said  of  old,  "put  ashes  on  the  low 
land,  because  they  are  of  a  hot  and  dry  nature ;  "  but 
we  say  to  you  they  are  the  coldest  manure  you  can 
apply,  and  that  they  will  keep  your  dry  grounds  moist 
longer  than  any  article  you  have  ever  applied.  Do  you 
want  proof  of  this  ?  Set  a  barrel  of  dry  ashes  on  the 
ground^  and  in  a  very  short  time  they  all  become  damp, 
and  they  remain  so. 

We  will  say  more  of  ashes  in  a  future  number,  and 
do  our  seeding  now.  With  the  exception  of  stubble- 
ground,  we  think  fall  sowing  preferable  to  spring  sow- 


ON    SEEDING    DOWN.  37 

ing.  We  are  not  obliged  to  go  through  the  tedious 
and  unprofitable  process  of  planting  and  hoeing  our  low 
grounds  in  order  to  renovate  and  bring  them  into  grass 
again.  We  have  a  shorter,  less  expensive  method. 
You  all  have  lands  too  low  to  be  planted  at  a  profit. 
You  therefore  suffer  these  to  lie  from  year  to  year, 
yielding  nothing  that  will  pay  for  whetting  your  scythe. 
You  dread  to  meddle  with  such  land,  as  we  once  did ; 
for,  after  you  have  planted  it,  and  obtained  half  a  crop, 
you  could  not  lay  it  down  smooth  for  the  hard  lumps  it 
contained,  or  for  the  mire  in  the  hollows.  Such  land, 
if  not  too  rocky,  may  be  directly  brought  into  excel- 
lent grass,  without  summer  fallowing,  or  losing  a  crop. 
In  the  last  week  in  August,  if  you  have  several  acres 
to  turn,  you  must  begin  to  ploiigh.  Do  not  take  a 
rooter,  or  a  plough  not  longer  than  a  hog's  snout,  but 
take  one  that  has  some  length  in  the  waist  —  the  ladies 
now  think  they  have  been  to  an  extreme  in  short 
waists  —  take  one  that  will  take  up  a  slice  and  lay  it 
down  again  completely  the  other  side  up.  Let  all  the 
grass  be  turned  in  ;  we  want  it  there  for  manure.  We 
have  such  ploughs,  and  we  advise  you  to  look  them 
up.  As  soon  as  you  have  ploughed  one  acre,  put  on  a 
dozen  loads  of  your  fine  manure  which  you  have  been 
preparing  through  the  summer,  and,  |irst  having  rolled 
down  your  furrows  close,  spread  your  manure  evenly, 
harrow  the  ground  thoroughly  lengthwise  of  the  fur- 
row, then  a  little  diagonally,  but  never  crosswise.  In 
a  short  time  you  will  make  the  acre  hke  a  carrot-bed. 
Then  sow  a  peck  of  herds-grass,  and  a  bushel  of  red- 
top  seed,  before  the  ground  has  time  to  dry^  and  cover 
the  seed  with  a  ^bush-harrow.  It  will  vegetate  much 
sooner  for  sowing  on  a  fresh  furrow :  it  is  no  more  like- 
ly to  be  winter-killed  than  seed  sown  in  spring.  As 
soon  as  it  is  so  late  that  seeds  will  not  vegetate,  you 
may  sow  on  eight  pounds  of  clover-seed,  or  less,  if  you 
would  like  a  lot  of  fall  feed  the  next  year ;  and  clover 
thus  sown  will  not  be  much  in  the  way  of  your  other 
4* 


38  ON    SEEDING    DOWN. 

grass.  It  will  help  to  fill  up  the  intersticeSj  and  when 
it  has  flourished  two  years,  it  dies  and  leaves  a  tap-root 
in  the  soil  to  rot,  and  afford  nourishment  to  the  roots  of 
the  more  saleable  grasses. 

When  you  have  finished  one  acre,  you  may  take  up 
another ;  and  you  cannot,  at  that  season,  be  better  em- 
ployed. We  don't  allow  of  mowing  bushes :  let  them 
grow  to  be  fire-wood,  or  let  the  plough  run  in  your 
pastures,  and  root  them  up ;  so  you  can  have  nothing 
better  to  do  about  the  first  of  September  than  plough 
and  sow  down.  At  that  season,  too,  your  team  is 
strong :  it  costs  little  to  keep  it,  for  it  is  fed  in  the  very 
field  you  are  ploughing,  and  is  always  on  the  ground, 
ready  for  work. 

You  have  now  turned  in  about  ten  or  twelve  tons  of 
rowen  to  the  acre  to  be  rotted.  If  you  doubt  this, 
weigh  the  grass,  root  and  branch,  of  one  square  foot, 
and  multiply  that  by  the  number  of  feet  in  the  acre. 
This  rowen  will  keep  your  ground  light  one  year 
longer  than  you  can  keep  pulverized  earth  light ;  and, 
when  you  find  the  rushes  and  the  sour  grasses  coming 
in  again,  as  they  will  in  low,  moist  land,  go  through 
the  process  again ;  and  the  oftener  you  repeat  this,  the 
richer  will  be  your  land,  if  you  forbear  to  take  off  a 
crop  of  grain. 

Grass  does  not  impoverish  land.  Do  you  doubt  this  ? 
After  you  have  mown  a  field  seven  years,  you  will 
raise  as  good  a  crop  of  corn,  or  of  potatoes,  as  if  it  had 
been  mown  only  three  years.  It  does  not  produce  as 
much  grass,  because  the  ground  has  become  full  of 
roots,  and,  as  we  say,  bound  out ;  so  that  the  oftener 
you  turn  in  a  crop  of  this  rowen,  the  richer  your  land. 
After  a  few  repetitions,  you  will  need  to  apply  no 
manure.  The  former  mass,  turned  under,  will,  in  its 
turn,  become  a  top  dressing,  and  you  can  then  renovate 
your  grass-lands  at  much  less  expense.  .  We  have  been 
trying  this  process  for  some  years,  or  we  should  not 
recommend  it  to  you  with  so  much  confidence.     We 


ENTOMOLOGY.  39 

speak  of  what  we  know.  We  have  thus  turned  low 
interval  lands,  that  had  lain  unproductive  for  more  than 
half  a  century,  and  got  them  into  fine  fields,  that  pro- 
duce good  crops  of  the  best  kinds  of  hay,  instead  of  a 
little  moss  and  mouse-ear  that  would  starve  a  frog. 

Higher  lands  may ,  be  treated  in  the  same  way,  if 
they  are  not  wanted  for  grain  ;  and  thus  we  may  reno- 
vate a  whole  farm,  for  our  process  does  not  require  half 
so  much  manure  as  the  planting  and  hoeing  process. 
We  must  raise  grain,  but  we  are  not  obliged  to  use  all 
our  manure  in  planting.  We  must  till  a  less  area,  and 
till  it  better,  and  thus  be  more  sure  of  a  supply  than  by 
planting  a  large  number  of  acres. 


[From  the  Genesee  Farmer.] 
ENTOMOLOGY. 


Mr.  Tucker,  —  I  was  highly  pleased  with  the  sug- 
gestions made  to  your  correspondent,  A.  H.  in  the  pres- 
ent volume  of  the  Monthly  Genesee  Farmer.  I  have 
no  doubt,  in  my  mind,  but  that  the  study  of  entomolo- 
gy, when  rightly  pursued,  is  one  of  the  most  pleasing 
and  interesting  studies  in  nature.  For  my  part,  I  have 
had  hitherto  little  opportunity  to  make  any  progress  in 
labeling,  classing,  and  arranging  insects;  yet  I. have  a 
considerable  collection  of  insects  promiscuously  ar- 
ranged, till  I  can  get  further  instructions  from  the 
proper  books,  and  a  good  entomologist.  I  have  nearly 
pursued  the  plan  recommended  by  A.  H.  for  several 
years.  I  have  a  box,  say  eighteen  inches  square,  and 
six  inches  high,  with  a  drawer  and  a  glass  at  top,  small 
holes  at  side,  through  drawer  and  all,  to  let  the  air  in ; 
and  it  has  been  matter  for  the  greatest  wonder  to  me 
to  observe  the  different  transformations  of  insects ;  for 
instance,  about  the  first  of  September,  1837,  I  secured 


40  ON    MANURES,    AND    THEIR 

a  curious  kind  of  grub,  or  caterpillar :  in  a  few  days 
after,  it  transformed  into  the  chrysalis  state,  and  thus 
continued  till  some  time  in  May  last,  being  in  this  state 
better  than  eight  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
the  beautiful  Papilio  turnus  made  its  appearance  from 
this  chrysalis.  And  I  have  also  observed  numbers  of 
others  enter  and  pass  their  diiferent  transformations, 
among  which  is  also  the  worm,  or  grub,  which  eats  off 
the  cabbage  in  spring,  when  first  planted  out.  This 
grub  I  took  up  with  some  earth  and  put  it  in  my  box ; 
fed  it  with  cabbage-plants :  in  a  few  days  it  buried  it- 
self in  the  earth  which  I  put  in  the  box,  to  undergo  its 
final  transformation  ;  and,  in  a  month  or  so,  it  came  out 
a  perfect  moth,  or  butterfly,  of  a  beautiful  variegated 
ash  color.  I  have  not  ascertained  the  name,  but  I  have 
it  preserved.  I  think  it  would  be  very  satisfactory  and 
useful  to  have  some  attention  given  to  this  subject. 
In  the  present  volume,  an  inquiry  is  made  from  Michi- 
gan, and,  in  a  later  number  of  the  same  volume,  Mr. 
W.  Colvil  supposes  that  the  blight,  or  loss  of  plums;  is 
caused  by  an  insect.  I  (and  I  have  no  doubt  there  are 
many  more)  would  be  very  happy  to  hear  answers  and 
information  on  this  subject. 


The  following  is  one  of  eight  numbers,  furnished  by 
us  at  the  request  of  the  publishers  of  the  Yankee 
Farmer  —  Mr.  Cole,  of  Portland,  editor  —  on  the  sub- 
ject of  manures.  The  8th  number  was  inserted  by  the 
editor  in  his  paper  of  January  12th, — our  Cultivator's 
birth-day. 

ON  MANURES,  AND  THEIR  APPLICATION  TO  THE  SOIL. 

Lime  is  the  next  article  Ave  shall  introduce  to  notice  ; 
and  what  shall  we  say  on  lime  as  a  manure  ?     We 


APPLICATION    TO    THE    SOIL.  41 

might  say  almost  any  thing,  and  support  our  theories 
by  high  authority.  We  daily  hear  much  said  of  lime 
as  a  manure,  and  if  implicit  faith  and  trust  are  to  be 
put  in  English  writers  of  eminence,  lime  must  be  con- 
sidered an  essential  aid  of  the  farmer. 

There  cannot  be  much  doubt  that  lime,  in  certain 
cases,  has  been  useful  in  agriculture. 

In  England,  it  is  often  obtained  at  a  rate  quite  cheap 
compared  with  the  cost  in  Massachusetts,  and  their 
lime  is  said  to  be  of  a  different  quality  from  ours.  It 
is  also  a  fact,  that  lime  has  often  been  used  in  Massa- 
chusetts, without  producing  any  apparently  beneficial 
result. 

Theorists  disagree,  toto  celo^  as  to  the  mode  of  its 
operations ;  but  yet  all  theorists  with  whose  writings 
we  happen  to  be  familiar,  strongly  recommend  the  use 
of  lime. 

Some  assert  that  lime  operates  much  hke  wood- 
ashes  ;  that  it  is  beneficial  rather  as  a  stimulant  than 
as  an  item  to  form  a  constituent  part  and  parcel  of  the 
plant  to  which  it  is  applied ;  while  others  contend  that 
it  is  an  essential  ingredient  of  some  plants,  one  of  which 
is  wheat,  and  that  this  grain  cannot  be  raised  without 
it ;  and,  where  there  is  a  deficiency  of  the  article  in  the 
natural  soil,  this  deficiency  must  be  supplied  from  the 
kiln. 

Some  theorists  assert  that  lime  is  a  powerful  decom- 
poser of  vegetable  substances,  and  that  it  may  be  ad- 
vantageously applied  wherever  wood-ashes  is  applied 
with  effect. 

Other  theorists  as  gravely  contend  that  lime  retards 
the  decomposition  of  vegetable  matter  in  the  soil,  and 
therefore  it  is  an  important  article  in  agriculture,  pre- 
serving for  future  use  a  store  that  might  be  too  soon 
expended  by  the  draughts  made  upon  it  in  our  hot 
seasons. 

Who  shall  decide  when  doctors  disagree  ? 

We  are  in  want  of  experiments  testing  the  value  of 


42  '        ON    MANURES,    AND    THEIR 

this  article.  It  is  believed  that  it  has  never  been  ex- 
tensively used  in  Massachusetts,  nor  till  within  a  few 
years  past.  It  seems  clear  that  it  acts  as  an  antiseptic 
when  applied  to  certain  substances ;  for  instance,  to 
posts  in  a  fence,  to  board  fence,  to  the  roofs  of  houses 
covered  with  shingles,  to  the  sides  of  barns,  &c.  &c. 
All  these  applications  have  been  made  on  the  principle 
that  lime  is  an  antiseptic,  and  tended  to  preserve  the 
timber  to  which  it  was  applied. 

Wood-ashes,  too,  have  been  applied  to  the  surface  of 
the  earth  about  posts  set  in  the  ground,  and  experience 
shows  the  benefit  of  this  application. 

Now  does  lime  promote  the  decomposition  of  vege- 
table matter  ?  Wood-ashes  surely  do,  when  applied  to 
the  soil  filled  with  it.  If  lime  operates  the  reverse  of 
this,  it  should  no  longer  be  ranked,  as  a  manure,  with 
ashes.  Lime  is  a  constituent  portion  of  wheat :  it  en- 
ters into  the  composition  of  the  plant,  and,  where  lime 
is  naturally  deficient,  it  seems  reasonable  that  it  should 
be  procured  and  mixed  with  the  deficient  sod.  All 
soils  are  found  to  have  some  portion  of  lime  in  them. 
Now  fifteen  or  twenty  bushels  of  wheat,  a  high  average 
crop  on  an  acre,  will  not  contain  more  than  one  or  two 
bushels  of  lime,  at  most.  If,  then,  we  apply  that 
quantity,  it  would  seem  sufficient  for  the  wheat  crop, 
even  if  the  soil  before  was  totally  destitute. 

But  the  Enghsh  apply  one  hundred  bushels  to  the 
acre,  —  often  fifty  to  sixty.  They  cannot  do  this  on 
the  principle  of  thus  furnishing  to  the  soil  a  component 
part  of  the  future  crop.  They  use  it  thus  freely  for 
different  reasons :  they  seem  to  think  it  ameliorates  the 
hard,  clayey  soils,  by  rendering  them  less  adhesive. 
They  also  contend  that  lime  is  beneficial  on  a  sandy 
soil,  rendering  it  more  retentive  of  moisture !  Lime 
thus  works  as  great  wonders  as  the  breath  of  the  trav- 
eller, in  a  cold  morning  :  it  was  used  to  warm  his 
hands,  and  to  cool  his  porridge. 

Are  we  yet  prepared  earnestly  to  recommend  a  boun- 


APPLICATION    TO    THE    SOIL.  4o 

tifiil  application  of  lime  ?  I  once  spread  three  casks  of 
lime  on  about  twenty  square  rods  in  my  garden,  which 
was  a  sandy  loam,  and  stood  in  much  need  of  manure. 
It  was  destitute  of  any  vegetable  matter,  having  been 
tilled  for  two  or  three  years  in  succession.  After  the 
lime  was  spread  on,  I  accidentally  found  a  heap  of 
manure  for  sale,  and  I  applied  that  at  the  rate  of  five 
cords  to  the  acre,  on  the  limed  ground.  My  first  year's 
crop  was  small ;  my  second  was  no  better ;  my  third 
was  not  so  good  as  that  where  no  lime  had  been  put, 
and  my  seventh  crop  has  never  shown  the  benefits  of 
the  lime.  From  the  appearance  of  the  cabbages  and 
turnips  the  second  year,  I  fancied  the  lime  had  de- 
stroyed or  eaten  up  my  manure.  This  lime  is  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  ground,  and  I  hope,  some  time,  to  reap  the 
benefit  of  the  application.  VVhen  that  time  arrives,  I 
trust  I  shall  be  able  to  give  you  further  account  of  my 
success:  till  then,  I  cannot  be  very  positive  as  to  the 
propriety  of  giving  two  or  three  shillings  a  bushel  for 
lime  to  improve  the  soil.  I  have  supposed  that  lime 
was,  as  a  manure,  to  be  ranked  with  wood-ashes,  and 
that  it  should  be  applied  in  places  where  it  had  some- 
thing to  do,  some  vegetable  matter  to  act  upon.  If  I 
am  not  correct  in  this,  I  have  no  theory  to  propose,  and 
shall  be  content,  at  present,  to  use  no  more  of  this  arti- 
cle than  the  plant  to  which  it  is  applied  may  want  for 
immediate  use.  W.  B. 

Fraiiimgham,  Dec.  1838. 

The  respected  editor  of  the  Yankee  Farmer  has  de- 
voted two  columns  of  his  paper  of  the  19th  inst.  in 
pointing  out  our  erroneous  notions  in  regard  to  the  use 
of  lime.  It  is  very  evident  he  has  caught  the  fever  of 
the  day,  and  must  therefore  cry  lime !  lime !  lime !  or 
be  wholly  out  of  fashion  with  gentlemen  farmers.  We 
have  been  very  highly  complimented,  by  the  editor,  for 
our  former  numbers  published  in  October,  November, 
and  December,  in  his  paper,   under  the  signature  of 


44  ON    MANURES. 

"W.  B.  Framingham;"  and,  as  those  numbers  have 
been  selected  from  his  paper,  and  been  republished  in 
all  parts  of  the  Union  with  apparent  approbation,  we 
intend  to  give  them  a  still  more  extended  circulation, — 
reserving,  however,  our  copy  right  to  spell  the  words 
our  instructors  in  English  taught  us,  when  we  were  of 
an  age  to  learn.  We  shall  spell  turnip  without  an  e, 
and  lie,  from  ashes,  differently  from  ley  —  pronounced 
lee  —  a  field. 

But  to  the  subject.  We  are  not  yet  too  old  to  learn, 
when  we  have  a  proper  instructor;  but  we  must  ac- 
knowledge that,  in  this  case,  we  do  not  comprehend 
our  master.  If  we  consent  to  spread  one  or  two 
bushels  of  lime  on  an  acre  of  wheat,  because  wheat 
takes  some  lime  out  of  the  soil,  we  are  told,  peremptori- 
ly, that  we  should  use  twenty  or  thirty  bushels,  be- 
cause the  wheat  takes  up  but  a  small  pprtion  of 
the  lime  sown !  And  when  we  stated  that  we  had 
tried  three  casks,  or  nine  bushels,  on  about  twenty  rods 
of  ground,  we  are  told  that  the  reason  why  our  crop 
was  not  benefited  by  it  was,  that  we  used  '^  eight  times 
as  much  as  was  recommended  for  a  light  soil."  If 
seventy-two  bushels,  our  quantity,  is  eight  times  too 
much,  then  nine  bushels  would  be  the  right  quantity 
to  an  acre  ;  just  now,  twenty  or  thirty  would  not  be 
too  much!  But  ''our  lime  is  much  superior  to  the 
English  lime."  Then  two  bushels  might  do,  possibly, 
notwithstanding  English  books  to  the  contrary.  Again, 
some  lime  has  sand  in  it,  and  therefore,  says  he,  "if 
such  lime  be  added  to  a  sandy  soil,  it  would  increase 
that  ingredient  in  the  soil,  of  which  there  is  aheady 
more  than  enough;"  "and  sometimes  twenty  bushels 
is  enough  on  sandy  soils."  This  is  precious;  twenty 
bushels  on  a  sandy  soil,  yet,  if  there  is  sand  in  the  lime, 
the  more  you  put  on,  the  worse  you  make  the  soil. 
The  result  seems  to  be,  that  you  must  put  sandy  lime 
on  to  a  clayey  soil,  and  clayey  lime,  or  none  at  all,  on 
to  a  sandy  soil.     Again,  "lime  acts  powerfully  on  any 


ON    FEEDING    CATTLE.  45 

fibrous  or  hard  vegetable  substance,  and  forms  a  com- 
post, partly  soluble  in  water,  which  becomes  a  suitable 
food  for  plants."  Lime,  then,  does  operate  Uke  ashes. 
Just  now  he  told  us  it  did  not,  and  it  must  not  be 
ranked  with  ashes.  But  if  lime  is  such  a  powerful  de- 
composer of  hard  substances,  why  is  it  applied  to  wood 
of  all  kinds,  to  preserve  it  ?  Limed  fences,  &c.  are  not 
soon  decomposed  by  the  lime.  How  long  does  it  take 
lime  to  decompose  the  pine  boards  in  a  barn  ?  one  year, 
or  two  ? 

When  we  are  clearly  taught  this,  we  can  make  some 
wise  calculations  as  to  the  usefulness  of  lime  in  decom- 
posing vegetable  matter  in  the  soil.  In  conclusion  of 
all  this  logical  reasoning  against  our  doubts  about  the 
economy  of  using  much  lime,  our  teacher  further  says, 
''  we  would  not  advise  the  use  of  much  lime,  by  those 
who  have  not  tried  it  on  their  farms." 

What  is  this  but  saying  to  farmers, — us  farmers, — 
when  you  have  tried  a  thing,  and  find  it  useful,  use  it ; 
but  if  you  have  not  tried  it,  we  would  not  advise  the 
use  of  it.  This  is  the  reasoning  that  most  people 
adopt,  when  they  have  no  clear  ideas  on  a  subject. 

It  is  really  amusing  to  see  two  columns  of  a  paper 
occupied  in  pointing  out  our  errors,  by  a  writer  that 
finally  comes  to  the  very  conclusion  with  ourselves  in 
regard  to  the  propriety  of  buying  much  lime  for  our 
sandy  soils,  before  we  shall  be  better  satisfied  of  its 
efficacy. 

We  think  the  conclusion  of  the  writer  much  better 
than  his  reasoning. 


ON  FEEDING  CATTLE. 


In  the  counties   of  Essex,  Middlesex,  Norfolk,  and 
Worcester,  we  have  much  meadow  land  that  produces 
5 


46  ON    FEEDING    CATTLE. 

kinds  of  hay  that  will  support  young  cattle  very  well 
throughout  apart  of  the  winter  seas.on.  If  they  have 
nothing  better  through -the  whole  winter,  they  become 
poor  in  spring,,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  summer  is 
spent  before  they  begin  to  grow  again.  Cows  are  often 
Avintered,  in  part,  on  such  coarse  hay,  and  towards 
spring  are  allowed  to  come  to  a  better  table  to  prepare 
for  spring  business.  It  is  a  very  common  practice  to 
feed  out  the  poorest  hay  in  the  fore  part  of  the  winter, 
and  to  reserve  the  best  for  spring. 

We  do  not  commend  this  practice,  for  cattle  do  not 
get  through  the  winter  so  well,  nor  are  cows  so  profita- 
ble as  if  differently  fed. 

The  sudden  and  sad  change  from  a  rich  autumn  diet, 
such  as  our  fields  generally  afford  in  the  fall,  to  a 
meagre  meal  of  meadow  hay,' is  apt  to  make  the  boiler, 
or  stomach,  collapse,  or  contract  too  suddenly,  and 
causes  a  great  contraction  of  the  milk  and  blood-vessels, 
which  is  injurious  to  the  system,  and  which  may  be 
avoided.  Some  people  fear  to  let  their  cattle  taste,  at 
certain  seasons,  of  any  good  fodder,  lest  they  would  not 
taste  of  the  poorer  ;  but  this  notion  is  erroneous.  Cattle 
that  have  been  long  fed  on  the  b^st  of  hay  are  very 
fond  of  a  change,  and  will  then  eat  the  coarser  kinds 
with  avidity.  Where,  then,  is  the  harm  of  mixing  their 
fodder  a  little  ?  not  as  the  Indian,  who  thought  the 
best  mixed  liquor  was  two  gills  of  rum  put  together, 
but  let  some  good  English  hay  be'  ofteji  mixed  up 
thoroughly  with  a  poorer  kind,  that  the  whole  may  be 
sweetened.  If  this  mixture  should  take  place  in  the 
haying  season,  the  good  hay  would  impart  its  sweetness 
to  the  poorer  kinds,  and  thus  a  food  would  be  prepared 
not  so  luscious  as  to  cause  satiety,  or  so  meagre  as  not 
to  be  relished.  At  our  best  tables  we  eat  roast  beef  and 
potato,  mutton  and  turnip,  turkey  and  coarse  brown 
bread.  We  are  fond  of  the  mixture,  and  think  it  better 
than  turkey  and  beef  one  day,  then  potatoes  and  turnips 
the  next.  But,  to  be  serious,  there  seems  no  propriety 
in  keeping  up  such  strong  partitions  between  the  better 


ON    FEEDING    CATTLE.  47 

and  the  poorer  food.  Oats  and  wheat  should  ever  be 
threshed  in  such  good  season  as  to  starve  the  mice,  and 
be  ready  to  be  mi'xed  up  \yith  the  corn-stover  as  soon 
as  it  can  be  harvested.  The  butts  and  husks  of  corn, 
when  housed  in  good  season,  have  much  richness  and 
virtue  in  them  :  being  yet  full  of  saccharine  matter, 
they  require  something  drier  to  be  intermixed,  to  keep 
them  from  moulding  too  much.  They  impart  to  this 
straw  a  sweetness  that  makes  it  relished  by  cattle,  and 
both  straw  and  husks  are  better  for  the  mixture. 

There  is  another  consideration  that  should  induce  us 
to  feed  our  good  food  in  the  first  of  winter.  Our  cows 
are  in  milk,  or  they  ought  to  be  ;  and,  while  they  yield 
it,  they  must  be  well  kept.  A  good  farmer  should  not 
let  his  cows  go  dry  four  months  in  the  year.  Two 
months  are  enough  in  all. reason,  and  some  cows  will 
give  milk  nearly  the  whole  year  round.  If  our  cows 
become  dry  by  the  first  of  December,  "  «7  is  owing  to 
their  hanging  up,^^  as  the  boy,  eating  porridge,  told  a 
sneerer  who  said  he  should  rather  eat  swill.  Much  is  in 
habit.  But  what  shall  be  done  with  the  milk  when  it 
is  too  cold  weather  to  churn  ?  Eat  it,  or  sell  it,  and 
buy  bread  and  meat.  Give  it  to  your  hogs :  it  is 
cheaper  than  grain,  and  if  they  cannot  relish  it,  raise  the 
cream  on  it,  and  let  us  have  it  for  a  breakfast  toast.  It 
is  better  than  butter,  which  will  keep  till  spring,  when 
you  begin  to  be  short  of  everything, — fresh  meats, 
turnips,  cabbages,  parsnips,  and  apples. 

The  more*  milk  you- draw  in  winter,  the  .greater 
capacity  have  your  cows  for  an  abundance  in  summer, 
if  you  keep  them  well.  Do  not  suffer  them  to  be  hide- 
bound nor  udder-bound,  but  keep  all  their  vessels  open 
with  roots  of  some  kind  which  you  can  raise  mighty 
cheap  if  you,  once  resolve. 

Our  corn-stover  should  be  dealt  out  mostly  in  the 
fore  part  of  winter,  for  it  is  the  best  dry  fodder  for  cows 
in  milk.  They  will  yield  more  on  good  corn-stover 
than  they  will  on  the  best  English  hay,  as  our  experi- 
ence teaches  us.     If  we  had  suitable  cutters  for  this 


48  SUGAR-BEET. 

fodder  they  would  be  more  valuable  than  the  cutters  of 
straw  or  of  hay ;  for  these  may  be  eaten  without  a 
knife,  but  who  can  masticate  a  three-foot  corn-butt  ? 
Cattle  make  awkward  attempts  to  bite  them  in  two, 
and  sometimes  succeed  by  holding  fast  one  end  with 
the  foot,  while  their  gums  and  under  teeth  pluck  off  a 
portion  of  the  other.  They  make  as  hard  work  of  it  as 
men  of  fifty  —  not  bachelors  —  do,  in  'gnawing  an 
apple  :  the  under  help  must  do  the  chief  business,  as  the 
upper  set  were  not  procured  to  labor. 


SUGAR-BEET. 

A  CORRESPONDENT  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  furnishes 
the  following  interesting  facts,  collected  by  observation, 
in  relation  to  the  culture  of  the  beet : 

"  When  on  a  visit  to  the  farm  of  our  enterprising 
citizen.  Lot  Pugh,  thirty-two  miles  north  of  our  city,  I 
saw  a  white  sugar-beet,  raised  from  seed  imported  from 
France,  which  measured  thirty  inches  in  circumference, 
and  weighed,  after  being  removed  from  the  ground  and 
divested  of  foreign  substances,  twenty-two  pounds. 
Although  the  specimen  which  was  measured  and 
weighed  was  taken  from  a  field  of  several  acres,  still  it 
probably  was  not  the  largest,  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
crop  appeared  to  be  of  equal  magnitude.  A  mangel- 
wurzel  from  the  same  grounds,  and  raised  from  im- 
ported seed  also,  measured  twenty-five  inches  in  cir- 
cumference, and  weighed  sixteen  pounds  and  a  half. 
It  must  be  observed  that,  as  these  beets  were  removed 
from  the  earth  on  the  23d  of  August,  they  had  not  at- 
tained their  full  growth.  Indeed,  it  is  probable  that 
many  of  the  former  may  measure  three  feet  in  circum- 
ference, and  the  latter  two  and  a  half,  when  they  are 
fully  grown. 


CEMENTS.  49 

The  manager  of  the  farm  informed  me  that  he  raised 
fifty  tons,  actual  weight,  of  beets  to  the  acre,  last  year, 
and  that  his  crop  is  much  better  the  present  season. 
He  also  said  that  it  required  but  little  more  labor  to 
raise  fifty  tons  of  beets  than  fifty  bushels  of  corn ^  while 
the  former  was  quite  as  good  for  horses,  much  better 
for  cattle,  and  rather  better  for  stock  hogs.  He  also 
asserted  that  suckling  calves  prefered  beets,  when 
properly  prepared,  to  milk.  Indeed,  I  could  almost  se- 
lect, from  among  fifty-six  head  of  Durham  cattle,  those 
that  had  been  fed,  during  the  last  season,  on  beets. 
They  were  not  only  fatter,  but  smoother  and  better 
grown,  than  those  that  had  been  kept  on  other  food. 

Although  cattle  and  hogs  will  eat  beets  in  a  raw 
state,  still  they  are  much  better  when  boiled.  The 
apparatus  and  fixtures  used  by  Mr.  Pugh  for  boiling,  or 
rather  steaming,  food  for  three  hundred  hogs,  and  forty 
or  fifty  cows,  with  other  stock,  cost  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  and  consumes  a  quarter  of  a  cord  of 
wood  per  day. 

Mr.  Pugh  had  not  attempted  to  make  sugar  from  his 
beets,  but  if  its  manufacture  is  profitable  any  where 
from  this  article,  it  would  certainly  be  so  here,  for  no 
soil  can  produce  a  better  growth.  Two  hands  can 
prepare  the  ground,  plant  and  cultivate  five  acres  of 
beets  in  a  season,  and  the  product  would  doubtless 
yield  many  tons  of  saccharine  matter." 


[From  Bigelow'3  Technology.] 

CEMENTS. 


Limestone.     The  substances   made   use    of  for  the 
uniting  medium  between  bricks,  or  stones,  in  building, 
are  denominated   cements.     The  calcareous  cements, 
5* 


50  CEMENTS. 

composed  of  a  mixture  of  lime,  sand,  and  water,  in, 
convseqnence  of  the  facility  with  which  they  pass  from 
a  soft  state  to  a  stony  hardness,  have,  in  common  use, 
superseded  all  others.  Lime,  in  the  state  of  quicklime, 
is  obtained  by  burning  in  kilns  any  of  those  natural 
bodies  in  which  it  exists  in  combination  with  carbonic 
acid ;  such  as  limestone^  rtiarhles,  chalk,  and  shells. 
The  effect  of  the  burning,  or  calcination,  is  to  drive  off 
the  carbonic  acid.  If  quicklime,  thus  obtained,  be  wet 
with  water,  it  instantly  swells  and  cracks,  becomes  ex- 
ceedingly hot,  and  at  length  falls  into  a  white,  soft, 
impalpable  powder.  This  process  is  denominated  the 
slaking  of  the  lime.  The  compound  formed  is  called 
a  hydrate  of  lime,  and  consists  of  about  three  parts  of 
lime  to  one  of  water.  When  intended  for  mortar,  it 
should  immediately  be  incorporated  with  sand,  and 
used  without  delay,  before  it  imbibes  carbonic  acid 
anew  from  the  atmosphere.  Lime,  thus  mixed  with 
sand,  becomes  harder,  and  more  cohesive  and  durable, 
than  if  it  were  used  alone.  It  is  found  that  the  sand 
used  in  common  mortar  undergoes  little  or  no  change  ; 
while  the  lime,  seemingly  by  crystallization,  adheres  to 
its  particles,  and  unites  them  together.  Cements  com- 
posed in  this  manner  continue  to  increase  in  strength 
and  solidity  for  an  indefinite  period,  the  hydrate  of 
lime  being  gradually  converted  into  a  carbonate.  The 
sand  most  proper  to  form  mortar  is  that  which  is 
wholly  silicious,  and  which  is  sharp,  that  is,  not  having 
its  particles  rounded  by  attrition. 

Fresh  sand  is  to  be  preferred  to  that  taken  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  sea-shore,  the  salt  of  which  is  liable  to 
deliquesce  and  weaken  the  strength  of  the  mortar. 
The  proportions  of  the  lime  and  sand  to  each  other  are 
varied  in  different  places  ;  the  amount  of  sand,  however, 
always  exceeds  that  of  the  lime.  The  more  sand  can 
be  incorporated  with  the  lime  the  better,  provided  the 
necessary  degree  of  elasticity  is  preserved  j  for  the  ce- 
ment becomes  stronger,  and  it  also  sets,  or  consolidates 


CEMENTS.  51 

more  quickly,  when  the  lime  and  water  are  less  in 
quantity  and  more  subdivided.  From  two  to  four  parts 
of  sand  are  used  to  one  of  lime,  according  to  the  quality 
of  the  lime,  and  the  labor  bestowed  on  it.  The  more 
pure  is  the  lime  and  the  more  thoroughly  it  is  beaten,  or 
worked  over,  the  more  sand  it  will  take  up,  and  the 
more  firm  and  durable  does  it  become. 

Clay.  This  abundant  and  useful  earth  is  composed 
principally  of  alumine  and  silex.  It  possesses  the 
valuable  property  of  forming,  when  wet,  a  ductile  and 
tenacious  paste,  which  is  changed  by  heat  to  a  stony 
hardness.  Common  clay,  of  which  bricks  and  coarse 
potter's  ware  are  made,  contains  oxide  of  iron,  which 
causes  it  to  turn  red  in  burning.  The  purer  sorts,  such 
as  pipe-clay,  become  whiter  when  exposed  to  a  high 
heat.  The  earthy  smell  which  clays  emit  when 
breathed  upon  appears  also  to  be  owing  to  oxide  of 
iron.  Absolutely  pure  clay  emits  no  smell.  Refractory 
clays  are  those  which  endure  the  greatest  heat  without 
melting.  The  best  fire-proof  bricks  and  crucibles  are 
made  from  slate  clay,  and  contain  a  good  deal  of  sand. 
Sometimes  they  are  made  of  old  materials,  which  have 
been  before  exposed  to  high  heat,  pounded  up  and 
mixed  with  fresh  clay.  A  mixture  of  two  parts  of 
Stourbridge  clay,  and  one  part  of  coke,  has  been  found 
very  refractory. 

Ashestus.  Asbestus  is  a  mineral  of  a  fibrous  struc- 
ture. One  of  its  varieties,  called  amianthus,  is  com- 
posed of  very  delicate,  flexible  filaments,  resembling 
fibres  of  silks.  It  has  been  manufactured  into  cloth 
and  paper,  which  possess  the  property  of  being  incom- 
bustible. It  is  difficult;  however,  to  find  fibres  of  suffi- 
cient length  and  firmness  to  produce  objects  of  any 
great  use.  It  is  sometimes  mixed  with  clay,  in  pottery, 
to  increase  its  strength.  It  has  also  been  used  for  the 
packing  of  steam-engines  which  are  of  high  pressure, 
or  in  which  steam  is  used  at  an  elevated  temperature. 


52  GRASS. 

GRASS. 

"  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  briog  forth  grass."— Gen.  i.  11. 

The  Mosaic  history  of  the  creation  is  very  concise, 
just  giving  a  general  account  of  the  order  in  which  its 
different  parts  were  called  into  existence.  And  it  is  a 
most  remarkable  fact,  that  modern  discoveries  in  geol- 
ogy, far  from  supplanting  this  history,  are  a  very  strong 
confirmation  of  it.  Geologists  are  now  satisfied  that 
plants  were  called  into  existence  long  before  the  crea- 
tion of  animals,  and  that,  of  all  animals,  man  appears 
the  last  in  the  list  of  created  beings.  Both  plants  and 
the  inferior  animals  are  found  imbedded  in  rocks  of 
secondary  formation  ;  but  no  instance  appears  of  the 
inhumation  of  a  human  being  in  one  of  these  rocks. 
From  this  and  from  other  circumstances,  it  seems  that 
mighty  convulsions  shook  the  earth,  and  swept  off  and 
buried  its  inhabitants,  while  man  was  yet  primitive 
dust. 

It  is  not  now  our  design  to  prove  the  truth  of  this 
ancient  history  ;  but,  like  the  good  people  of  Connecti- 
cut, when  they  adopted  the  divine  law  as  their  code, 
we  will  be  ruled  by  this  until  we  find  a  better. 

Grass,  according  to  this  history,  stands  first  in  the 
list  of  vegetable  creation.  Grass  was  called  forth  be- 
fore animals  had  existence  ;  and  most  of  the  land  ani- 
mals must  have  perished  without  it.  This  was  at  first 
their  only  food ;  and  this,  at  the  present  time,  is  the 
most  important  of  vegetable  creation.  In  ancient  times, 
grain  was  not  in  use.  We  have  reason  to  suppose  that 
for  ages  the  human  race  was  fed  from  milk,  from  the 
flesh  of  other  animals,  from  the  herbs  of  the  field,  and 
from  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  garden. 

Figs  alone  would  sustain  life  ;  and,  growing  without 
culture,  they  would  naturally  constitute  the  principal 
food.     Grain,  then,  is  a  mere  luxury,  and  might  be 


GRASS.  53 

dispensed  with  ;  yet  the  Graham  doctors  still  indulge 
their  disciples  in  the  use  of  grain  !  Even  in  the  cold 
and  figless  climate  of  Britain,  grain,  in  former  times, 
was  not  relied  on  as  a  staple  article  ;  but,  as  population 
increases,  grain  is  demanded ;  for  the  tract  that  would 
be  required  to  feed  a  buftalo  would  maintain  its  thou- 
sands of  human  beings,  when  well  planted  with  grain. 

In  the  most  populous  portions  of  the  earth  —  China 
is  an  example  —  few  beasts  can  be  kept.  Grain  is 
produced  by  manual  labor ;  and  vegetable  diet  is  the 
only  food  of  the  mass  of  population.  A  dollar  now 
expended  in  meal  will  feed  ten  men  a  week  :  a  dollar 
expended  in  meat  would  hardly  last  a  day. 

The  raising  of  grain  requires  a  soil  by  nature  rich, 
or  made  so  by  culture.  In  a  populous  country  are 
created  the  means  of  enriching  the  soil  ;  and  these 
means  supply  the  exhausted  fields  with  the  necessary 
pabulum  or  food  of  future  plants.  This  is  nature's 
rotation  ;  and  nature's  laws  must  be  obeyed.  If  we 
will  maintain  our  population  on  the  luxury,  grain,  with 
the  product  of  grain  we  must  restore  an  exhausted  soil. 
Grain  is  the  great  exhauster ;  and  we  could  readily 
render  our  plains  fertile  again,  if  we  Avere  not  obliged 
to  crop  them  with  grain.  Grass  grows  spontaneously, 
and  does  not  exhaust  our  soil.  You  will  dispute  and 
controvert  our  doctrine  until  you  have  well  considered 
the  subject,  and  then  ninety-nine  of  yon  in  a  hundred 
will  agree  with  us.  When  your  lands  have  been 
mown  seven  years  without  manuring,  you  obtain  a 
larger  crop  of  corn  or  grain,  on  ploughing  up,  than  if 
you  had  mown  them  but  four.  What  is  the  reason  of 
this  ?  You  get  as  large  a  crop  because  your  grass  is 
not  an  exhauster ;  you  get  a  larger  crop  because  in 
seven  years  the  soil  becomes  filled  with  grass-roots,  to 
be  decomposed  as  soon  as  you  kill  them  with  the 
plough.  In  seven  years,  your  grass-land  is  hide-bound 
and  choked  with  abundance  of  roots.  It  will  not  give 
you  half  a  crop  of  grass ;  but  it  is  not  because  your 
land  has  been  growing  poorer   in   grass ;  for  if  you 


54  ON    MANURES,  AND    THEIR 

plough  and  lay  immediately  to  grass  again,  yon  will, 
in  most  cases,  donble  your  crop.  Please  to  consider 
this  doctrine  well ;  and  when  yon  have  expressed  your 
assent,  we  will  urge  you  a  step  farther.  As  it  is  now 
winter,  we  may  as  well  stop  and  think  a  little  upon  it 
till  we  meet  again.  We  wish  to  put  you  in  a  way  to 
double  the  profits  of  your  grass-lands  without  injuring 
your  other  crops.  This  is  a  matter  we  have  much  at 
heart.  If  you  can  double  your  quantity  of  hay,  you 
can  keep  double  your  present  number  of  cattle.  We 
think  it  possible  to  do  this  without  the  aid  of  lime. 

If  you  have  as  many  cattle  as  you  wish  to  keep, 
why,  sell  off  half  your  land,  and  let  us  double  the 
number  of  farmers  as  well  as  that  of  stock. 


^iJ^We  have  engaged  William  Buckminster,  Esq. 
of  Framingham,  to  give  us  a  series  of  articles  on  agri- 
culture. He  is  an  intelligent  practical  farmer,  diligent- 
ly engaged  in  improvements:  his  communications  come 
home  to  the  business  and  understanding  of  our  farmers, 
and  they  will  be  much  profited  by  giving  them  a  thor- 
ough examination.  We  now  pubHsh  one  number  on 
the  important  subject  of  manure. —  Yankee  Farmer. 

ON  MANURES,  AND  THEIR  APPLICATION  TO  THE  SOIL. 

The  most  important  inquiries  of  the  farmer  are, 
''  How  shall  I  render  my  lands  most  fertile  at  the  least 
expense  ?  How  shall  I  keep  them  in  a  state  of  fertility  ? 
What  crops  tend  most  to  impoverish  them  ?  " 

Probably  the  most  powerful  manure,  and  the  quickest 
to  operate  on  the  soil,  is  the  flesh  of  animals,  or  animal 
matter ;  but  this  is  not  so  durable  as  that  which 
operates  more  slowly ;  and  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a 


APPLICATION    TO    THE    SOIL.  55 

general  rule,  that  those  manures  which  are  most  active 
are  soonest  spent  and  gone.  Lands,  therefore,  that 
have  been  manured  with  fisli  not  only  receive  no  im- 
provement by  the  application,  but  in  many  cases  they 
havfe  been  run  out  and  impoverished  to  such  a  degree 
as  to  be  wholly  unfit  for  cultivation.  It  has  been  cus- 
tomary, in  some  places  near  the  sea-shore,  to  put  two 
alewives  to  a  hill  of  corn,  and  apply  no  other  manure. 
This  powerful  stimulant  lays  the  whole  soil  under  con- 
tribution, and  exhausts  every  particle  of  the  vegetable 
matter  contained  in  it.  It  lies  heavy  and  dead.  The 
flesh  of  land  animals  would  not  operate  so  quick,  and 
would  remain  longer  to  nourish  the  plants  within  its 
reach. 

The  excrement  of  animals  operates  differently  ac- 
cording to  the  different  circumstances  under  which  it  is 
placed.  If  kept  in  a  cellar,  and  trodden  down  close  by 
cattle,  so  that  the  air  has  not  access  to  it,  you  will  find 
it  as  fresh  and  as  green  at  the  end  of  six  months  as 
when  it  was  first  deposited  there.  The  air  is  essential 
to  its  decomposition ;  and,  on  the  same  principle,  the 
bottom  of  a  fence-post  keeps  sound  much  longer  than 
that  part  which  is  more  exposed  to  the  air. 

This  kind  of  manure  needs  to  be  cautiously  managed, 
else  much  of  it  is  wasted.  Some  good  farmers  have 
doubted  whether  we  ever  lose  any  of  the  beneficial 
salts  of  this  manure  from  exposure  to  the  sun  and  air ; 
and  they  accordingly  spread  it  on  the  surface  of  their 
fields,  and  care  not  to  bury  it  deeper  than  a  harrow  will 
cover  it.  They  contend  that  nothing  evaporates  but 
its  watery  particles,  and  that  all  which  is  valuable  to 
vegetation  remains  in  the  soil.  Some  insist  that  this 
kind  of  manure  should  not  be  used  till  it  is  a  year  old, 
and  that  it  should  lie  in  heaps  long  enough  to  become 
rotten  before  it  is  spread  on  the  soil.  We  need  more 
experiments  on  this  subject  than  we  have  yet  seen 
published.  As  my  uncle  Toby  used  to  say,  ''  Much 
may  be  said  on  both  sides  of  the  question." 


56  ON    MANURES. 

Some  of  our  good  farmers  prefer  to  apply  this  kind  of 
manure  in  a  green  state,  and  cover  it  well  with  the 
plough.  They  say  if  it  is  once  buried  beneath  the 
surface,  though  buried  deep,  you  may  be  sure  it  will 
impart  to  the  soil  all  its  richness,  sooner  or  later  ; 
that,  as  the  gases  issuing  from  it  never  descend  into 
the  sub-soil,  they  must  ascend  ;  and  that  our  only  risk 
of  losing  its  strength  arises  from  not  burying  it  deep 
enough.  This  theory  is  plausible,  and  is  gaining 
ground  in  New  England.  It  is  pretty  evident  that  the 
useful  salts  in  this  manure  cannot  descend  far  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  soil.  If  they  could  we  should  find 
the  sub-soil  rich  in  a  field  that  had  for  ages  been  highly 
manured.  We  find  it  not  so.  Yet  may  there  not  be 
a  loss  in  burying  it  too  deep,  not  only  in  the  first  season, 
but  ever  after  ?  Can  you  keep  this  kind  of  manure 
buried  deep  —  in  a  cellar  for  instance  —  for  years, 
without  loss  of  its  strength?  From  some  experiments 
which  I  have  made,  I  think  you  cannot  keep  it  without 
loss,  even  in  a  cool  place,  where  no  fermentation  takes 
place. 

If  this  be  so,  then  there  is  a  loss  if  we  bury  it  too 
deep  in  the  soil.  I  think  I  have  buried  it  so  deep  that 
it  never  gave  a  good  account  of  itself  the  first  year,  or 
the  second,  and  I  had  no  hopes  of  it  afterward. 

That  considerable  loss  arises  from  its  evaporation, 
when  laid  on  the  surface,  there  is  as  little  doubt.  To 
be  satisfied  of  this,  one  has  only  to  pass  by  a  field  in  the 
summer,  manured  in  this  manner :  his  olfactory  nerves 
will  teach  him  that  something  stronger  than  '^  watery 
particles  "  is  passing  off  from  the  field,  and  going,  possi- 
bly, to  enrich  another's  crop  in  a  distant  enclosure. 
And  who  can  say  that  this  may  not  be  nourished  by 
the  passing  effluvia  as  eff'ectually  as  the  man  who  was 
nourished  by  the  steam  from  his  neighbor's  beef  steak  ? 

There  is  a  proper  medium  to  be  observed.  Manure 
of  this  kind  is  found  to  do  the  most  immediate  service 
when  slightly  covered  with  earth.     The  roots  of  plants 


MAPLE    SUGAR.  57 

are  then  not  invited  to  an  unreasonable  depth,  which 
retards  their  progress  to  maturity,  and  keeps  the  plants 
too  long  in  a  green  state.  For  Indian  corn,  particular- 
ly, which  seldom  suffers  from  drought,  we  may  plough 
and  bury  our  manure  too  deep.  W.   B. 

Framingham^  Oct.  8,  1838. 


MAPLE  SUGAR. 


The  following  directions  for  obtaining  sap  and  sugar 
from  the  rock-maple  were  handed  us  by  a  friend.  We 
do  not  expect  to  teach  our  New  Hampshire  and  Ver- 
mont friends  how  to  tap  the  maple  ;  still  it  is  possible 
they  may  derive  some  new  ideas,  as  all  do  not  adopt 
the  same  course  in  manufacturing  the  sugar.  This 
mode  of  tapping  with  an  auger  has  been  practised  for 
many  years,  but  we  were  not  before  aware  that  the 
auger  should  not  penetrate  more  than  half  an  inch  into 
the  sap-wood.  It  is  possible,  in  this  age  of  honeyed 
words  and  sugar  mania,  that  some  may  wish  to  be 
sweetened  with  the  sap  of  the  rock-maple  tree  that 
may  be  reared  with  their  own  hands  by  the  road  side. 
This  is  one  of  the  cleanest  and  most  beautiful  of  our 
forest  trees,  and  may  be  propagated  and  transplanted 
with  as  much  ease  and  safety  as  any  tree  which  we 
have  cultivated. —  Ed. 

It  is  commonly  in  February,  or  the  first  days  of  the 
month  of  March,  that  the  work  of  making  maple  sugar 
is  begun, —  the  time  when  the  sap  begins  to  rise,  though 
the  earth  may  be  covered  with  snow  ;  and  it  flows 
nearly  two  months  before  the  trees  begin  to  show  any 
vegetation.  Having  chosen  a  central  place  in  respect 
to  the  trees  that  are  to  furnish  the  sap,  a  shed  is  raised, 
6 


58 


MAPLE    SUGAR. 


called  a  siigar-camp.  Its  object  is  to  shelter  from  the 
weather  the  caldrons  in  which  the  operation  is  carried 
on,  and  the  persons  who  direct  it.  One  or  more  augers, 
of  about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  diameter  ;  some  small 
spouts  to  receive  the  sap,  tubes  of  alder  or  sumac  of 
eight  or  ten  inches,  open  on  two  thirds  their  length, 
and  proportioned  to  the  size  of  the  augers ;  buckets  to 
empty  the  spouts  and  carry  the  sap  to  the  camp ;  cal- 
drons of  the  content  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  gallons ; 
moulds  proper  to  receive  the  sirup,  when  thickened  to 
the  point  suitable  to  be  transformed  into  loaf ;  finally, 
axes  to  cut  and  prepare  the  combustibles,  —  are  the 
principal  utensils  necessary  to  this  work. 

The  trees  are  perforated  obliquely  from  below  up- 
ward, at  eighteen  or  twenty  inches  from  the  ground, 
with  two  or  three  parallel  holes  at  four  or  five  inches 
distance  one  from  the  other.  It  is  necessary  to  take 
care  that  the  auger  does  not  penetrate  more  thaji  a  half 
inch  into  the  wood,  observation  having  proved  that 
there  is  a  greater  flow  of  sap  at  this  depth  than  at  a 
greater  or  less.  It  is  recommended,  also,  and  it  is  the 
custom,  to  pierce  them  in  the  part  of  the  trunk  facing 
south.  This  practice,  though  well  known  to  be  pref- 
erable, is  not  always  followed. 

The  spouts,  of  the  content  of  two  or  three  gallons, 
are  most  commonly  made,  in  the  Northern  States,  of 
white  pine,  white  or  black  ash,  or  maple.  The  chestnut, 
the  oak,  and  especially  the  black  walnut  and  butternut, 
must  not  be  employed  for  this  use,  because  the  sap  is 
easily  charged  with  the  coloring  part,  and  even  with  a 
degree  of  bitterness  with  which  these  woods  are  im- 
pregnated. A  spout  is  placed  on  the  ground  at  the  foot 
of  each  tree,  to  receive  the  sap  that  flows  by  the  two 
tubes  introduced  into  the  holes  made  with  the  auger. 
It  is  collected  daily  and  carried  to  the  camp,  where  it 
is  deposited  temporarily  in  casks,  from  which  it  is 
drawn  to  fill  the  caldrons.  It  r^ust  always  be  boiled 
in  course  of  the  two  or  three  first  days  after  it  is  drawn 


MAPLE    SUGAR. 


59 


from  the  tree,  being  susceptible  of  readily  entering  into 
fermentation,  especially  if  the  temperature  is  moderate. 
They  proceed  to  the  evaporation  by  a  brisk  fire,  taking 
care  to  skim  it  during  the  boiling,  and  they  add  to  the 
richness  of  the  liquor  by  the  successive  addition  of  a 
new  quantity  of  sap,  until,  finally  acquiring  a  sirupy 
consistence,  it  is  passed,  after  cooling,  through  a  cover- 
ing, or  any  other  woollen  stuff,  to  separate  the  impuri- 
ties with  which  it  may  be  charged. 

Some  persons  recommend  not  to  heat  it  to  the  last 
degree  of  boiling,  till  twelve  hours ;  others,  on  the  con- 
trary, think  it  may  be  done  at  once.  In  either  case, 
they  pour  the  sirupy  liquor  into  a  caldron,  which  is  to 
be  but  three  quarters  filled,  and  by  a  brisk  and  well 
kept  up  fire,  they  bring  it  readily  to  the  degree  of  con- 
sistence required  to  be  poured  into  the  moulds  destined 
to  receive  it.  It  is  known  to  have  arrived  at  this  point 
when,  taking  some  drops  between  the  fingers,  they  per- 
ceive some  small  grains.  If  in  this  last  boiling  the 
liquor  boils  over,  a  small  piece  of  lard,  or  butter,  is 
thrown  into  the  caldron,  which  makes  it  immediately 
subside.  When  the  molasses  has  flowed  from  the 
moulds,  this  sugar  is  no  more  deliquescent  than  the 
brown  sugar  of  the  colonies. 

The  process  above  described  is  exactly  the  same, 
w^hether  the  sap  is  drawn  from  the  sugar-maple,  or  the 
red  or  white  maple ;  but  these  two  last  species  must 
furnish  double  the  sap  to  make  the  same  quantity  of 
sugar. 

Different  circumstances  contribute  to  render  the  crop 
of  sugar  more  or  less  abundant.  Thus,  a  very  cold  and 
dry  winter  is  more  productive  than  when  this  season 
has  been  very  variable  and  very  moist.  It  has  been 
observed,  also,  that,  when,  during  the  night,  it  has  frozen 
very  hard,  and  on  the  following  day  the  air  is  very  dry 
and  clear,  the  sap  flows  in  great  abundance,  and  that  then 
a  tree  gives  two  to  three  gallons  in  twenty-four  hours. 
It  is  estimated  that  three  persons  may  tend  two  hundred 


60 


MECHANICS. 


and  fifty  trees,  which  give  one  thousand  pounds  of 
sugar,  or  about  four  pounds  to  a  tree,  which,  however, 
does  not  appear  to  be  always  the  case  with  those  en- 
gaged in  the  business;  for  many  farmers  on  the  Ohio 
assure  us  they  do  not  obtain  but  about  two  pounds. 

Trees  which  grow  in  low  and  moist  places  give 
more  sap,  but  less  charged  with  the  saccharine  princi- 
ple than  those  situated  on  hills  or  slopes.  They  draw 
proportionally  more  from  those  situated  in  the  midst  of 
fields,  or  the  length  of  inclosures  from  habitations.  It 
is  remarked,  also,  that  when  the  districts  where  they 
annually  make  sugar  are  deprived  of  other  kinds  of 
trees,  they  obtain  more  favorable  results  even  from  un- 
thrifty sugar-maples. 


MECHANICS. 

It  is  a  subject  of  regret  that  the  true  principles  of 
mechanism  are  not  more  generally  taught  in  our  coun- 
try. Our  people  are  as  ingenious  as  any  on  the  face  of 
the  globe  ;  and,  if  they  could  or  would  profit  by  the 
labors  of  each  other,  they  might  advance  farther  and 
faster  towards  their  objects  than  when  each  sets  up  for 
himself.  We  would  not  fetter  genius  ;  we  would  have 
each  think  for  himself ;  but  there  is  no  necessity  that 
each  should  build  up  a  system  from  the  foundation,  and 
derive  no  benefit  from  those  who  have  gone  before  him. 
He  may  build  on  their  foundations,  but,  if  he  feels  too 
independent  of  the  pioneers  of  science  to  be  instructed 
by  their  success  or  by  their  failures,  he  will  be  likely 
to  make  little  advance  in  any  branch  of  knowledge  be- 
yond those  who  started  from  the  same  goal.  We  are 
led  to  these  reflections  on  witnessing  the  multitude  and 
variety  of  machines  contrived  to  effect  the  same  object 


MECHANICS.  61 

by  those  who  are  unaware  of  what  has  already  been 
done,  and  who  are  astonished,  on  presenting  their 
claims  at  the  patent  office,  or  to  the  public,  to  find  they 
have  been  anticipated  long  ago  by  others  of  whose  in- 
ventions they  never  had  heard.  By  not  attending 
sufficiently  to  the  principles  of  the  mechanic  arts, 
many  contrive  new  machines  of  complicated  form,  with 
variety  of  wheels,  and  pulleys,  and  cogs,  and  bands, 
imagining  that  by  all  this  trumpery  they  are  gaining 
power,  when  in  truth  every  additional  item  of  gearing 
serves  only  to  diminish  power  by  the  multiplication 
of  friction.  Hence  the  hundreds  of  patents  for  churns, 
for  washing-machines,  (fee.  (fee.  each  more  complicated 
than  its  predecessor,  and  of  course  requiring  more 
power.  Simplicity  is  the  grand  desideratum  in  all 
machinery,  but  that  is  too  often  disregarded.  First 
principles  are  neglected,  and  we  waste  our  strength  in 
vain.  The  principle  of  the  lever  and  steelyard  are  not 
generally  understood,  and  we  have  been  surprised  at 
the  ignorance,  on  these  subjects,  of  those  who  ought  to 
be  better  informed. 

The  simplest  mechanical  power  is  that  of  the  lever. 
When  the  lever  is  ten  feet  long,  and  the  fulcrum,  or 
prop,  is  one  foot  distant  from  the  body  to  be  raised,  one 
pound  attached  to  the  long  end  of  the  lever  will  raise 
nine  pounds  hung  on  the  short  end,  because  the  one 
pound  is  nine  times  as  distant  from  the  fulcrum,  or  pivot, 
as  the  nine  pounds  are. 

On  this  principle  is  formed  the  common  steelyard  ; 
and  any  one  who  has  an  exact  rule  may  prove  the 
accuracy  of  a  pair  of  steelyards  merely  by  applying 
that  rule  and  measuring  the  distances  of  the  notches, 
or  indents,  in  which  the  poise,  or  balance^  rests  in 
weighing. 

Suppose  the  weight  on  the  hook  of  your  steelyard 

be  five   pounds,  your  fulcrum^  or  pivot,  by  which  you 

hold  up  the  steelyard  is  one  inch  distant  from  the  hook  ; 

then  take  just  one  pound  for  your  poise,  and  place  it 

6* 


62  MECHANICS. 

just  five  inches  from  your  fulcrum,  and  it  will  balance 
your  five-pound  weight ;  or,  if  your  poise  weigh  half  a 
pound,  you  must  place  it  just  double  that  distance  from 
your  fulcrum,  or  hook,  held  in  your  hand.  If  your 
steelyards  will  not  stand  the  test  of  your  measure,  they 
are  false.  But  in  order  to  make  the  steelyard  conform 
to  this  rule,  the  short  arm  should  exactly  balance  the 
long  one.  This  is  not  often  the  case,  and,  instead  of 
putting  on  more  weight  at  the  short  end,  it  has  been 
usual  to  reduce  the  poise,  or  weight,  on  the  long  arm. 
This  would  amount  to  exactly  the  same  thing,  if  the 
poise  continued  stationary,  and  equally  distant  as  the 
weight  from  the  pivot ;  for  it  is  obvious,  as  in  all 
equations,  that  adding  to  one  scale  is  the  same  thing  as 
deducting  from  the  other  ;  but,  to  be  equal,  both  scales 
must  be  equally  distant  from  the  pivot  on  which  they 
turn.  Now  the  poise  in  the  steelyard  is  one  of  the 
scales,  and  this  is  continually  shifting  ground;,  when, 
therefore,  this  poise  is  five  times  as  far  from  the  pivot 
as  the  weight  is,  one  ounce  added  to  it,  or  taken  from 
it,  makes  five  times  the  diiference  that  it  would  do 
when  five  times  nearer.  Thus,  by  reducing  the  poise, 
the  simplicity  of  the  steelyard  is  totally  deranged,  for 
you  must  graduate  your  indents  and  figures  by  a  com- 
plicate rule,  or  your  balance  is  obviously  wrong. 

To  avoid  this  difficulty,  the  balance  weight  is  fixed 
on  the  side  with  the  main  weight,  or,  what  is  the  same 
thing,  a  scale,  heavy  enough  to  balance  the  poise  end 
is  used,  and  the  steelyard  has  now  become  a  balance, 
and  will  give  you  the  weight  as  accurately  as  two 
scales  with  fifty-six  pound  weights  in  one  of  them.  And 
it  is  now  extremely  easy  to  detect  a  false  balance  :  you 
have  only  to  weigh  the  poise  and  measure  the  distance 
of  the  indents  and  figures  on  the  long  arm,  or  scale 
beam.  It  is  on  this  simple  principle,  this  plain  rule  of 
simple  proportion,  that  our  largest  scales  for  weighing 
hay,  &c.  are  or  should  be  constructed:  1  pound,  50 
inches  from  the  pivot,  balancing  50  pounds  hanging  one 


LOCOMOTION.  63 

inch  from  the  pivot,  on  the  opposite  side  ;  and  a  50 
pound  poise  will  weigh  down  a  load  of  2500  ;  for  50 
times  50=2500.  Simple  as  all  this  is^  we  have  many 
patent  balances. 


[From  Bigelow's  Technology.] 

LOCOMOTION. 


Animals  of  the  more  perfect  kinds  possess  the  power 
of  shifting  their  place  at  will ;  which  power  they  exer- 
cise both  in  transporting  their  own  bodies,  and  in  con- 
veying other  masses  of  matter.  The  chief  obstacles 
which  oppose  locomotion,  or  change  of  place,  are 
gravity  and  friction  ;  the  last  of  which  is,  in  most  cases, 
a  consequence  of  the  first.  Gravity  confines  all  terres- 
trial bodies  against  the  surface  of  the  earth,  with  a  force 
proportionate  to  the  quantity  of  matter  which  composes 
them.  Before  they  can  be  removed  from  one  spot  of 
this  surface  to  another  of  equal  height,  they  must  either 
be  lifted  from  the  ground  against  the  force  of  gravity, 
or  carried  horizontally  along  the  surface,  resisting  with 
a  degree  of  friction  which  increases  with  their  weight. 
Most  kinds  of  mechanism,  both  natural  and  artificial, 
which  assist  locomotion,  are  arrangements  for  obviating 
the  effects  of  gravity  and  friction. 

Motion  of  Animals.  Animals  that  walk,  obviate 
friction  by  substituting  points  of  their  bodies  instead  of 
large  surfaces  ;  and  upon  these  points  they  turn,  as 
upon  centres,  for  the  length  of  each  step,  raising  them- 
selves wholly  or  partly  from  the  ground  in  successive 
arcs,  instead  of  drawing  themselves  along  the  surface. 
The  line  of  arcs  which  the  centre  of  gravity  describes 
is  converted  into  an  easy  or  undulating  line,  by  the 
compound  action  of  the  different   joints.     As  the  feet 


64  LOCOMOTION. 

move  in  separate  lines,  the  body  has  also  a  lateral^ 
vibratory  motion.  A  man,  in  walking,  puts  down  one 
foot  before  the  other  is  raised,  but  not  in  running. 
Q-uadrupeds,  in  walking,  have  three  feet  upon  the 
ground  for  most  of  the  time ;  in  trotting,  only  two. 
Animals  which  walk  against  gravity,  as  the  conimon 
fly,  the  tree-toad,  &c.  support  themselves  by  suction, 
using  cavities  on  the  under  side  of  their  feet,  which 
they  enlarge  at  pleasure,  till  the  pressure  of  the  atmos- 
phere causes  them  to  adhere.  In  other  respects,  their 
locomotion  is  effected  like  that  of  other  walking 
animals.  Birds  perform  the  motion  of  flying  by  striking 
the  air  with  the  broad  surface  of  their  wings  in  a 
downward  and  backward  direction,  thus  propelling  the 
body  upward  and  forward.  After  each  stroke,  the 
wings  are  contracted,  or  slightly  turned,  to  lessen  their 
resistance  to  the  atmosphere,  then  raised  and  spread 
anew.  The  downward  stroke  also,  being  more  sudden 
than  the  upward,  is  more  resisted  by  the  atmosphere. 
The  tail  of  birds  serves  as  a  rudder  to  direct  the  course 
upward  or  downward.  When  a  bird  sails  in  the  air 
without  moving  the  wings,  it  is  done,  in  some  cases,  by 
the  velocity  previously  acquired,  and  an  oblique  direc- 
tion of  the  wings  upward ;  in  others,  by  a  gradual 
descent,  with  the  wings  slightly  turned  in  an  oblique 
direction  downward.  Fishes,  in  swimming  forward, 
are  propelled  chiefly  by  strokes  of  the  tail,  the  extremity 
of  which  being  bent  in  an  oblique  position,  propels  the 
body  forward  and  laterally  at  the  same  time.  The 
lateral  motion  is  corrected  by  the  next  stroke,  in  the 
opposite  direction,  while  the  forward  course  continues. 
The  fins  serve  partly  to  assist  in  swimming,  but  chiefly 
to  balance  the  body,  or  keep  it  upright  ;  for  the  centre 
of  gravity  being  nearest  the  back,  a  fish  turns  over 
when  it  is  dead  or  disabled.  Some  other  aquatic 
animals,  as  leeches,  swim  with  a  sinuous  or  undulating 
motion  of  the  body,  in  which  several  parts  at  once  are 
made  to  act  obliquely  against  the  water.     Serpents,  in 


SHORT-LEGGED    ANIMALS.  65 

like  manner,  advance  by  means  of  the  winding  or  ser- 
pentine direction  which  they  give  to  their  bodies,  and 
by  which  a  succession  of  oblique  forces  are  brought  to 
act  against  the  ground.  Sir  Everard  Home  is  of  opin- 
ion that  serpents  use  their  ribs  in  the  manner  of  legs, 
and  propel  the  body  forwards  by  bringing  the  plates 
on  the  under  surface  of  the  body  to  act  successively, 
like  feet,  against  the  ground.  Some  worms  and  larvae, 
of  slow  motion,  extend  a  part  of  their  body  forwards, 
and  draw  up  the  rest  to  overtake  it,  —  some  performing 
this  motion  in  a  direct  line,  others  in  curves. 

When  land  animals  swim  in  the  water,  they  are  sup- 
ported because  their  whole  weight,  with  the  lungs  ex- 
panded with  air,  is  less  than  that  of  an  equal  bulk  of 
"water.  The  head,  however,  or  a  part  of  it,  must  be  kept 
above  water,  to  enable  the  animal  to  breathe  ;  and,  to 
effect  this,  and  also  to  make  progress  in  the  water,  the 
limbs  are  exerted  in  successive  impulses  against  the 
fluid.  Quadrupeds  and  birds  swim  with  less  effort 
than  man,  because  the  weight  of  the  head,  which  is 
carried  above  water,  is  in  them  a  smaller  proportional 
part  of  the  whole  than  it  is  in  man. 


SHORT-LEGGED  ANIMALS. 


Our  most  judicious  farmers  prefer  the  shortest-legged 
neat  stock,  both  for  milk  and  for  labor,  and  many  are 
beginning  to  doubt  whether  even  a  long-leg  horse  is 
better  than  one  with  short  legs.  They  have  formed 
their  judgment  from  experience, —  the  only  true  test  in 
all  matters  of  this  kind.  Many  learned  arguments  may 
be  adduced  in  favor  of  long  legs  ;  and',  if  the  commu- 
nity should  come  to  the  conclusion  on  the  subject  by 
mere  reasoning,  without  regard  to  experience,  we  be- 


66  SHORT-LEGGED    ANIMALS. 

lieve  long  legs  would  be  the  most  popular  candidates 
for  farmers'  favor,  both  for  the  yoke  and  for  the  dairy  ; 
and  we  should  conclude  that  the  horse  especially  could 
not  travel  so  fast  with  short  legs  as  with  long  ones  ; 
but,  on  considering  the  subject  well,  we  find  a  philo- 
sophical reason  in  favor  of  short  legs  for  travelling, 
and  this  applies  to  animals  of  all  descriptions.  If  you 
will  revert  to  an  extract  in  our  last  number  from  Bige- 
low's  Technology,  you  will  see  a  partial  explanation  of 
our  theory.  In  moving  forward,  a  man  cormnonly 
advances  one  foot  at  a  time  :  if  he  takes  a  long  step 
his  body  sinks,  for  his  supporters  are  not  perpendicular 
when  he  brings  up  the  other  foot :  his  body  rises, 
then  sinks  again,  as  he  advances  it  forward  of  the 
first  foot ;  thus,  at  every  step,  his  body  rises  and  sinks  ; 
that  is,  moves  in  a  curved  line  :  it  describes  the  arc  of 
a  circle,  of  which  the  leg  is  the  radius,  or  spoke,  as 
the  wheelwright  says.  Now  the  farther  he  strides,  the 
lower  his  body  sinks,  and  the  greater  must  be  the  effort 
to  bring  it  up  again  :  his  wliole  body  is  continually 
rising  and  falling  while  he  walks,  so  that  he  loses 
ground  by  his  deviation  from  a  straight  line  ;  and,  the 
longer  his  legs  are,  the  more  he  deviates  from  that  line, 
and  the  greater  effort  is  required  to  raise  the  body 
again.  Take  a  wheel  with  only  four  spokes  and  no 
rim  ;  it  will  be  constantly  rising  and  falling  while  you 
roll  it  on.  Take  one,  now,  with  eight  spokes,  and  its 
deviation  from  a  right  line  will  not  be  half  so  great  as 
that  of  the  first ;  and  the  longer  these  spokes  are,  the 
greater  the  deviation  in  either  case.  With  four  spokes 
and  no  rim,  the  hub  of  your  wheel,  in  passing,  describes 
a  track  much  like  that  of  our  improved  new  roads, 
that  require  no  other  deviation  from  a  right  line  than 
the  mounting  of  hills  and  the  sinking  into  valleys. 

Horses,  or  other  animals  with  long  legs,  naturally 
take  longer  steps  than  others  ;  thus  their  bodies  have 
farther  to  travel,  and  a  greater  effort  is  required  to 
bring  them  up  again  after  sinking  below  their  level. 


THE    LADIES.  67 

So  much  for  theory.  Now  for  fact,  —  experience.  The 
officers  of  our  revolutionary  army  discovered  that  the 
short-legged  soldiers,  and  especially  those  that  stepped 
short,  were  less  fatigued  on  a  march  than  others  were. 
Isaac  Howe,  of  Framingham,  who  is  new  near  eighty 
years  of  age,  entered  the  army  in  1775,  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  He  served  through  the  war,  and  was  a  most 
excellent  soldier :  he  was  also  one  of  the  best  laborers 
we  ever  hired.  He  has  often  told  us  that  it  was  a 
common  saying  in  the  army,  —  "  The  soldier  that  steps 
short  is  least  fatigued  on  a  march." 

We  have  uniformly  found  that  short-legged  horses 
were  every  way  to  be  preferred  ;  and  that,  of  long- 
legged  ones,  those  were  best  that  took  the  shortest 
strides.  Low  horses  handle  their  feet  best,  for  they 
are  nearer  to  them.  Tiiey  stumble  least,  for  the 
stumbling-blocks  are  nearer  their  sight ;  and,  if  they 
fall,  their  fall  is  not  great,  like  that  of  the  high  house 
of  the  foolish  man  ;  nor  like  that  of  Lucifer,  never  to 
rise  again. 

Cows  with  short  legs  are  observed  to  have  better 
udders  than  others  ;  and  their  trunks  are  better  formed 
to  make  room  for  the  lungs.  Their  tails  are  longer,  in 
proportion,  and  they  more  easily  brush  the  flies  from 
their  hind  feet,  so  much  exposed  to  the  afternoon  calls 
of  those  inquisitive  visiters. 


THE   LADIES. 


"  And  the  Lord  God  said,  It  is  not  good  that  man  should  be  alone :  I 
will  make  an  help  meet  for  him,"  —  Gen.  ii.  18. 

Now,  my  dear,  delicate  friends,  let  us  not  see  this 
Scripture  perverted  or  wrested,  as  many  texts  are,  to 
the  destruction  of  the  dairy,  the  farm,  and  the  hopes 


68  THE    LADIES. 

of  the  husband.  The  cows  must  be  milked  twice  a 
day,  and  we  want  a  little  aid  from  yon,  as  wages  are 
high,  and  the  mower  must  not  long  be  detained.  As 
we  are  sometimes  kept  late  in  the  field,  we  hope  to  find 
all  the  cows  milked  on  our  return ;  but  milk  them 
properly,  or  they  may  better  stand  till  our  return. 

Let  no  small  children  enter  the  yard  at  the  time  of 
milking.  Let  not  the  cows  be  disturbed  at  night,  but 
approach  them  with  kind  words.  If  you  scold  them, 
or  whip  them,  you  may  be  cheated  of  half  your  milk. 
After  you  have  brushed  the  dirt  from  the  udder,  and 
seated  yourself  on  the  right  side  of  the  cow,  grasp  the 
teats,  one  in  each  hand,  near  their  extremity.  Squeeze 
gently  at  first,  or  the  cow  may  be  pained  and  start 
away  :  after  a  few  squeezes  you  may  venture  all  your 
strength.  In  about  half  a  minute,  if  the  cow  has  been 
well  bred,  the  milk  will  flow  as  fast  as  you  can  possi- 
bly draw  it  from  the  teats.  Now  let  nothing  interrupt 
your  labor.  Squeeze  the  teat  and  draw  it  down  at 
the  same  moment ;  and,  at  every  relaxation  of  your 
hand  for  more  milk  in  the  teat,  press  up  your  hand 
against  the  bag  and  this  will  have  a  tendency  to  bring 
all  the  milk  out  of  the  udder:  it  is  an  imitation  of  the 
butting  of  the  calf  against  the  bag. 

You  must  not  stop  to  speak  nor  to  be  spoken  to  until 
your  cow  is  finished.  If  one  speaks  to  you,  the  milk 
streaming  into  your  pail  makes  so  much  noise  you  stop 
in  order  to  hear  ;  then  the  milk,  which  began  to  flow 
so  freely,  goes  back  again  into  the  ducts  that  supply 
the  udder,  and  you  lose  your  opportunity.  Like  the 
sap  of  the  maple,  you  must  take  it  when  it  flows,  or 
its  juices  go  to  enlarge  the  tree  :  so  a  cow,  half  milked, 
will  gain  more  flesh,  at  the  cost  of  your  milk  and  cream. 
Move  the  udder,  at  the  close  of  milking,  in  every  di- 
rection, to  be  sure  you  have  all  the  milk  ;  but  do  not 
spend  a  long  while  in  stripping  lest  you  get  the  cow 
into  a  lazy  habit  of  ekeing  out  the  richest  portion  of 
her  bounty. 


TAILS,  69 

In  the  morning,  the  cows  should  be  driven,  gently, 
two  or  three  times  around  the  yard  before  milking: 
they  will  yield  more  for  the  exercise,  and  they  will  be 
less  likely  to  scatter  manure  in  the  way  to  pasture. 
We  have  seldom  hired  a  good  milker.  Females  are 
better  than  men :  they  have  more  patience.  A  good 
milker  will  obtain  at  least  one  quarter  more  cream  than 
one  that  milks  slowly.  We  have  often  proved  this  : 
we  hired,  one  summer,  a  man  from  New  Hampshire, 
who  had  managed  a  farm  several  years  :  he  was 
clever,  but  extremely  moderate.  We  then  had  four 
cows  in  milk,  and  discovered  our  slow  milker  was  fast 
drying  up  our  cows :  we  concluded  to  give  him  our 
aid,  and  let  him  milk  only  two.  On  the  first  trial,  he 
obtained  the  same  quantity  that  we  did.  In  one  week, 
we  obtained  one  quart  more  than  he  at  a  milking.  He 
said  his  cows  were  not  equal  to  ours :  Ave  then  shifted, 
and  obtained,  within  nine  days,  more  milk  from  his 
cows  than  he  did  from  ours.  This  was  wholly  to  be 
ascribed  to  his  moderate  milking,  for  he  left  none  in 
the  udder. 


TAILS. 

The  tails  of  neat  stock  are  ornamental  and  useful. 
How  ugly  a  cow  would  look  without  a  tail !  Then 
how  convenient  this  brush  in  fly-time  !  not  all  the  fans, 
and  fingers,  and  brushes  ever  invented,  are  equal  to  a 
good  tail  on  a  cow  for  brushing  away  those  naughty 
intruders  that  are  always  readiest  to  hug  and  buzz  in  a 
season  wiien  you  can  spare  them  best,  —  the  hottest 
weather.  Cattle  with  short  tails  are  much  afiiicted 
with  this  kind  of  company,  which  at  noonday  annoys 
them  to  such  a  degree  they  are  prone  to  retreat  to  the 
7 


70  TAILS. 

woods,  or  to  a  lake,  in  which  they  will  plunge  deep 
enough  to  drown  all  that  adhere  to  their  legs.  It  has 
been  observed  that  neat  stock  are  more  sensitive  in  the 
hind  legs  than  in  the  others,  and  that  they  therefore 
suffer  the  loss  of  their  tails. 

We  think  it  a  barbarous  practice  to  deprive  of  their 
fly-brush  any  description  of  animals,  unless  they  have 
been  guilty  of  some  offence,  —  as  the  horse,  for  using 
his  brush  so  freely  as  to  take,  like  a  ruthless  politician, 
your  very  reins  from  your  hands.  Clip  him,  cur-tsiil 
him,  and  teach  him  better. 

An  idea  extensively  prevails  that  the  tails  of  cattle 
and  of  hogs  should  be  shortened ;  that  hogs  fatten 
much  better,  and  that  neat  stock  contract  diseases  un- 
less deprived  of  a  portion  at  least  of  this  ornamental 
queue.  Is  this  fact,  or  fib  ?  We  think  it  worth  while 
to  inquire.  We  have  recently  heard  it  asserted  that 
there  is  no  necessity  of  docking  the  tails  of  animals. 
We  solicit  communications  on  this  subject.  If  it  be 
necessary  to  cut  away  any  portion  of  the  soft,  spongy 
extremity,  let  it  be  done. 

Last  December  we  killed  two  pigs  of  the  age  of  five 
months  :  we  judged  that  one  would  weigh  two  hun- 
dred. We  never  had  any  pigs  fatten  better  than  these, 
and  we  had  wholly  neglected  to  shorten  their  tails. 

If  it  be  necessary  to  cut  from  the  calf  or  from  the 
cow,  care  should  be  taken  to  leave  on  much  as  possi- 
ble of  the  hair  for  a  brush.  It  is  asserted  that  cattle 
with  long  tails  are  able  to  keep  from  their  backs  the 
fly  that  there  often  makes  a  puncture  and  deposits  its 
eggs :  these  eggs  become  worms,  and  are  not  the  most 
pleasant  sojourners  in  hot  weather. 

Cows  with  short  tails  will  annoy  their  milker  much 
more  than  with  long  ones  :  with  short  ones,  they  strike 
his  face  as  with  a  club,  while  long  ones  move  more 
slowly,  or  pass  entirely  over  the  head. 


MILKING.  71 


MILKING. 


We  have  forbidden  children,  and  cats,  and  dogs,  and 
talkers  of  all  descriptions,  to  enter  the  yard  in  the  milk- 
ing season,  for  all  should  be  quiet,  if  you  would  get  all 
the  best  of  the  cream ;  but  if  children  enter  not,  how- 
will  they  learn  to  milk  ?  If  you  have  an  old  cow  that 
you  intend  to  dry  soon,  let  your  fresh-man  —  or  fresh- 
woman,  as  they  are  styled  at  female  colleges — make 
a  first  trial  on  her.  Teach  him  to  sit  close  to  the  cow, 
for  the  nearer  he  sits  the  less  will  he  be  hurt  by  a  kick. 
He  should  sit  so  far  back  as  to  front  the  side  of  the 
udder,  and  his  left  arm  should  constantly  rest  against 
the  cow's  right  leg  ;  then  if  she  raises  her  foot,  his  arm 
will  keep  it  off  the  pail ;  and  she  cannot  kick  him  for 
two  reasons :  her  limbs  are  so  formed  that  she  must 
either  strike  forward  or  back  ;  and,  if  she  could  kick 
out  directly  towards  him,  he  would  receive  no  blow 
while  his  arm  rests  firmly  against  her  leg  :  the  most 
she  could  accomplish  would  be  to  push  him  away. 

The  child  should  grasp  the  teat  close  to  its  extremity, 
and  the  milk  will  be  easier  drawn. 

Sometimes,  in  cases  of  malicious  kicking,  the  cow 
should  be  whipt  with  a  birch,  but  this  should  instantly 
follow  the  offence,  or  she  will  not  well  understand  why 
she  is  punished  ;  still  it  is  better  generally  to  flatter 
them  into  their  duty  as  the  cunning  schoolmaster  did 
his  scholars,  for  you  must  expect  no  full  pail  at  the 
time  of  using  compulsory  measures. 

Well-bred  cows  seldom  kick,  but  they  often  raise  up 
a  foot  to  brush  the  flies  off,  or  to  give  you  a  hint  that 
you  do  not  hold  the  teats  right,  and  that  you  give  them 
pain.  When  there  is  the  least  doubt  in  your  mind 
whether  a  malicious  kick  was  intended,  by  all  means 
put  the  most  favorable  construction  on  her  conduct,  and 
treat  her  accordingly,  as  real  gentlemen  always  do 
on  the  conduct  of  females  of  all  descriptions. 


73  ON    MANURES,    AND    THEIR 


ON  MANURES,  AND  THEIR  APPLICATION  TO  THE  SOIL- 

Wood-ashes,  leached  and  unleached,  are  a  valuable 
manure,  and,  placed  in  large  quantities  on  light  and 
sandy  loams,  they  alter  permanently  the  quality  of  the 
soil,  rendering  it  more  adhesive,  more  retentive  of 
moisture,  and  consequently  more  protective  of  stable 
manure  subsequently  applied. 

It  is  a  very  common  notion  that  ashes  should  be  ap- 
plied to  moist  soils,  in  order  to  render  them  drier.  This 
is  clearly  a  mistake.  Though  ashes,  in  small  quantities, 
assist  the  vegetable  growth  in  all  soils,  they  never 
should  be  laid  on  low  heavy  lands  :  they  contribute  to 
make  such  lands,  in  time,  more  heavy  still.  Ashes 
operate  in  two  ways.  The  lie  from  those  that  are 
strong  is  a  very  powerful  decomposer  of  vegetable  sub- 
stances. It  is  from  this  cause  that  we  see  so  marked  a 
difference  when  applied  under  different  circumstances. 
On  greensward,  newly  turned  and  full  of  grass  and  their 
roots,  strong  wood-ashes  have  a  powerful  effect.  They 
very  rapidly  decompose  these  substances,  and  convert 
them  into  active  manures.  When  applied  to  old  fields^ 
destitute  of  roots,  6oC.  as  we  often  apply  them  by  the 
single  handful  to  a  hill  of  corn,  they  seem  to  be  of  little 
use,  there  being  nothing  on  which  they  can  operate. 
They  only  serve  to  render  the  soil  more  compact  and 
adhesive ;  but  the  quantity  thus  used  is  too  small  to 
produce  a  sensible  effect  by  way  of  a  permanent  amend- 
ment of  the  soil.  But  leached  ashes  may  often  be 
purchased  at  such  a  rate  as  to  justify  the  application  of 
them  to  light  loams,  in  such  quantities  as  to  render  a 
material  alteration  in  the  quality  of  the  soih  Thirty 
or  forty  cart-loads  to  the  acre  will  often  improve  such 
a  soil,  not  by  virtue  of  the  lie  that  may  remain  in  them, 
but  of  the  heavy  earthy  matter,  the  dregs,  that  serve  to 
render  the  whole  soil  more  retentive  of  moisture.  But 
as  the   lie  that   may  still   remain   in    them  in  small 


APPLICATION    TO    THE    SOIL.  73 

quantity  will  not  avail  perceptibly,  unless  the  applica- 
tion be  made  on  greensward,  or  other  vegetable  matter, 
these  leached  ashes  may  not  be  worth  more  than  so 
many  loads  of  clay  on  a  sandy  soil  ;  for  without  their 
lie  they  operate  mechanically  only,  and  not  as  a  stimu- 
lant, or  a  decomposer  of  vegetable  matter.  Therefore 
leached  ashes,  perfectly  drained  of  their  spirit  of  lie,  can 
hardly  be  counted  as  a  manure,  serving  only  the  office 
of  a  component  part  of  the  soil. 

That  wood-ashes,  unleached,  have  the  effect,  before 
stated,  of  rapidly  decomposing  vegetable  substances 
when  applied  to  them,  will  be  evident,  not  only  from 
the  different  effect  they  produce  on  greensward  com- 
pared with  soil  long  under  cultivation  ;  but  we  can 
show,  merely  by  applying  these  substances  to  a  tub  of 
strong  lie,  that  it  has  a  most  powerful  and  rapid  action 
on  them,  decomposing  them  totally  in  a  very  short 
time. 

Yarn  put  into  a  bucking  tub  to  be  whitened  will 
soon  be  spoiled  if  the  lie  be  strong  ;  and  it  is  a  maxim 
with  those  concerned  in  the  process,  "  that  the  yarn 
must  not  remain  there  long." 

A  few  years  since,  my  boy  was  set  to  wash  the  apple- 
trees  with  lie.  He  made  it  very  strong ;  he  used  a 
new  paint-brush  made  of  bristles.  In  less  than  two 
hours,  the  brush  came  to  pieces.  It  was  completely 
decomposed,  or  rotted  ;  it  was  in  that  short  period 
turned  to  manure.  A  strong  piece  of  woollen  cloth  was 
afterwards  used.  This  shared  the  same  fate  with  the 
brush,  and  in  less  time.  W.  B 

Framingham,  Dec.  1838. 

7* 


74  LOCOMOTION, 


LOCOMOTION. 

Locomotion  is  a  subject  that  has  often  engaged  the 
attention  of  ingenious  minds,  and  since  it  is  recently 
ascertained  that  our  old  modes  of  shifting  from  place 
to  place  were  not  the  most  easy  and  rapid,  but  that  we 
may,  with  the  new  apparatus,  improve  our  speed  three 
or  four  fold  without  additional  fatigue,  it  is  quite 
natural  to  inquire  whether  the  means  of  locomotion  in 
common  u«e  on  our  gravel  ways  are  not  capable  also  of 
some  improvement. 

The  wheel  has  long  been  used  to  diminish  the  fric- 
tion occasioned  by  dragging  bodies  on  the  earth,  and 
various  are  the  modifications  it  has  undergone  to 
render  it  more  perfect  and  free  from  friction.  The 
greatest  obstacle  opposed  to  the  action  of  the  common 
wheel  is  the  unevenness  of  the  road  or  track  on  which 
it  operates.  To  reduce  our  uneven  surface  to  u  level 
is  laborious  and  expensive  ;  but  it  is  not  a  difficult 
matter  to  render  the  most  of  our  roads  smooth,  so  that 
wheels,  and  carriages,  and  teams,  and  passengers,  would 
suffer  far  less  than  they  do  on  our  common  ways.  Our 
legislature,  therefore,  a  few  years  since,  ventured  to 
pass  a  law  requiring  that  the  felloes  of  heavy  loaded 
wheels  should  not  be  less  than  five  inches  in  width. 
This  law  was  not  suffered  to  go  into  operation  :  it  was 
to  have  taken  effect  two  years  after  its  enactment ;  but, 
before  that  time  arrived,  a  majority  of  the  body  were 
panic  struck  at  the  near  prospect  of  a  good,  smooth 
road,  and  probably  considered  it  would  prove  injurious 
to  health  to  ride  and  take  the  air  without  a  good 
shaking  at  the  same  time  ;  they  therefore  repealed  the 
law,  and  we  have  been  blest,  on  our  common  roads, 
with  a  most  healthy  circulation  —  of  the  blood  —  ever 
since. 

It  is   wholly  impossible  to  keep  roads  good   while 
teamers  are  allowed  with  narrow  wheels  to  carry  six 


LOCOMOTION.  75 

and  seven  tons  at  a  load:  such  loads,  at  least,  should  be 
carried  on  wide-rimmed  wheels.  Many  now  use  them 
voluntarily,  and  contend  they  are  easier  drawn  ;  but 
this  is  questionable,  when  the  road  by  narrow  ones  is 
cut  up  into  ruts,  though  there  can  be  little  doubt,  if  all 
loaded  wheels  were  wide,  they  would  run  with  more 
ease,  the  surface  acted  on  being  rendered  perfectly 
smooth  by  the  action  of  the  wheel  itself.  Then  it 
should  be  considered  that  one  half  the  expense  of 
mending  ou7^  ivays — a  mighty  task  ofttimes  —  would 
thus  be  saved.  Every  road-maker  and  mender  knows 
that  it  is  the  narrow  wheel  that  cuts  out  gutters 
which  invites  the  waters  to  rush  in  one  channel,  and, 
like  a  mob,  harmless  when  separated,  do  mighty  mis- 
chief with  their  concentrated  forces  if  allowed  to  act 
together. 

But  we  must  bear  with  our  rough  and  mangled 
roads  till  we  have  legislators  who  may  think  it  as  im- 
portant to  prevent  a  somerset  in  a  cart-rut,  as  a  reeling 
from  a  public  house  ;  who  will  prevent  the  tripping  of 
the  feet,  as  well  as  that  of  the  tongue  ;  and  who  will 
not  spend  so  much  of  their  brains — or  breath  —  in 
directing  what  we  shall  eat,  or  drink,  as  in  providing 
wherewithal  we  may  travel  with  ease. 

A  difficulty  arises  in  setting  a  wheel  properly,  from 
the  supposed  necessity  of  making  the  inner  box  larger 
than  the  outer  one.  So  long  as  this  fashion  continues, 
we  know  of  no  rule  for  setting  the  wheel  on  the  axle 
that  is  not  objectionable.  Indeed,  there  is  no  gene- 
ral rule,  and  we  find- wheelwrights  guessing  at  the 
proper  declination  of  the  wheel  from  a  perpendicular 
posture  ! 

This  should  not  be.  It  is  obvious  that  the  axle 
must  not  be  made  of  a  true  taper  where  it  enters  the 
hub,  for  the  load  would  tend  to  crowd  it  off",  and  the 
draft  of  the  team  also  would  have  the  same  tendency. 
It  is  therefore  the  practice  to  SQt  the  wheel  under,  and 
make  the  under  side  of  the  axle  in  the  wheel  range 


76  LOCOMOTION. 

with  the  body  of  the  axle :  this  sets  the  wheel  nnder 
so  far  that  it  crowds  towards  the  shoulder  and  creates 
much  friction.  Regardless  of  this,  carriage  makers 
often  set  the  wheel  still  farther  under  the  vehicle,  and 
make  the  wheel  dishing,  the  spokes  standing  out  in  a 
bracing  position  from  the  hub,  the  under  portion  of 
them  being  perpendicular,  while  the  upper  ones  stand 
thirty  degrees  from  a  perpendicular  position.  The 
wheel  is  stronger  when  it  assumes  this  dishing  form,  as 
the  laboring  spokes  stand  more  upright  than  they 
otherwise  would  with  this  crooked  axle ;  but  the  great 
difficulty  is,  the  wheel  runs  hard,  it  presses  too  hard 
against  the  shoulder.  To  prevent  the  wheels  inclining 
to  run  off  from  its  toeing  out  too  much,  the  end  of  the 
axle  is  bent  forward,  and  this  is  called  the  gather  of 
the  axle  ;  but  here  is  no  rule  for  the  gather  :  each  man 
crooks  his  axle  according  to  fancy.  Is  it  a  wonder, 
then,  that  some  of  our  carriages  run  so  hard  ?  We  find 
there  is  much  difference  in  their  running.  This  in- 
creased friction  is  not  the  whole  difficulty  ;  the  carriage 
is  vastly  more  liable  to  be  overset  by  this  under  setting 
of  the  wheels,  and  we  know  of  no  rule  by  which  you 
can  set  wheels  properly  while  such  a  difference  exists 
in  the  size  of  the  boxes  :  we  therefore  propose  that 
the  inner  and  the  outer  boxes  be  made  very  nearly  of 
a  size.  We  well  know  there  is  more  friction  with 
large  axles  and  boxes,  but  we  are  satisfied  we  gain  on 
the  whole,  and  that  a  wheel  set  in  a  perpendicular 
position,  with  a  straight  axle,  will  need  no  gather,  and 
will  run  with  much  less  friction  than  when  set  in  the 
common  mode.  You  have,  then,  a  plain,  straight  rule 
to  go  by,  which  may  be  practised  by  you,  and  taught 
to  your  children. 


ORCHARDS.  "  11 


ORCHARDS. 

We  hope  you  will  not  forget  what  we  have  said  on 
setting  out  trees.  We  grieve  to  see  so  much  time  and 
money  heedlessly  thiown  away,  and  we  shall  often 
invite  attention  to  the  subject.  We  have  yet  said  but 
little  on  trimming  :  for  years  we  have  heard  the  cry 
of  trim,  trim  !  in  some  of  the  papers,  as  if  we  could 
never  trim  enough.  We  think  many  orchards  are  in- 
jured by  excessive  trimming,  and  know  that  large 
hmbs  should  never  be  cut  from  the  tree.  Heading 
down  has  been  practised  by  many,  to  let  the  sun  in  to 
ripen  the  fruit !  One  consequence  is,  the  tree  branches 
out,  covers  a  large  tract  of  land,  and  is  forever  in  the 
way  of  your  plough,  your  team,  and  your  head.  Tiieii 
you  look  out  for  a  high  tree  in  vain,  and  you  leave  a 
great  portion  of  the  space  you  are  fairly  entitled  to  by 
deed,  ^^  usque  ad  coelwn^''^  —  up  to  the  very  heavens,. 
—  entirely  without  occupation.  We  think  no  leading 
upward  stem  of  the  apple-tree  should  be  lopped  after 
it  is  taken  from  the  nursery,  or  after  three  years' 
growth :  a  twenty-foot  tree  will  produce  you  more 
than  a  ten-foot  tree,  and  one  good  quality  in  a  tree  is 
height. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended,  by  some,  that  a 
tree  should  never  be  trimmed  ;  that  nature  has  pro- 
vided no  surplus  limbs,  and  that  nature  must  be  im- 
plicitly followed  in  all  tliese  matters  ;  and  thatj  when 
the  limbs  grow  too  thick,  they  will  die  of  themselves, 
as  we  often  see  theni  in  thick  forests  of  timber,  and 
injure  the  body  less  than  any  kind  of  trimming. 

This  doctrine  may  lead  us  too  far.  It  is  natural  for 
grass  to  twine  around  the  roots  and  ruin  the  young  tree. 
Moss  will  naturally  grow  on  its  trunk,  and  caterpillars 
will  naturally  lodge  in  its  branches  ;  but  we  must  ap- 
ply the  remedies^  the  natural  remedies. 

As  to  the  forest  trees,  we  cannot  do  better  than  let 


78  ORCHARDS. 

them  alone  :  every  leaf  we  pluck  off  injures  the  trees. 
The  several  species  of  pine  and  evergreens  are  ruined 
by  using  the  axe  and  the  saw.  The  pitch  —  the  life- 
blood  of  the  trees  —  flows  out  at  the  wound,  and  we 
at  the  same  time  deprive  the  tree  of  a  portion  of  its 
lungs.  It  may  still  live,  as  animals  have  done,  many 
years  after  losing  one  of  the  lobes  of  the  lungs  by  de- 
cay ;  but  the  bare  existence  of  the  tree  is  not  enough : 
we  wish  it  as  much  top  as  it  will  bear,  that  it  may 
draw  on  the  earth  and  on  the  air  for  all  the  nourish- 
ment they  can  afford.  Further,  —  by  trimming  young 
forests  we  open  them  to  the  winds  ;  the  leaves  blow 
away  instead  of  turning  to  manure  and  keeping  the 
soil  light ;  the  grass-roots  occupy  the  space  intended 
for  the  roots  of  the  tree,  and  you  are  a  greater  loser 
than  he  who  puts  his  rum  all  into  a  sieve.  You  lose 
the  sap,  the  leaves,  the  room  for  your  roots,  and  the 
powers  of  the  tree  to  extend  its  growth.  But  we  will 
not  be  forced  by  theory  to  the  contrary  extreme,  and 
shall  not  recommend  to  let  fruit-trees  wholly  alone. 
We  think  nature  has  provided  them  with  some  excess 
of  leaves  and  of  branches,  to  meet  the  demand  of  the 
worms  and  of  the  insects  that  are  constantly  preying 
upon  them.  The  storms,  also,  come  in  for  a  share  of 
the  spoil.  Now  if  we  destroy  these  worms  and  insects, 
and  the  storms  have  used  no  violence,  a  surplus  of 
limbs  and  of  leaves  remain  for  the  knife,  and  we  may 
then,  with  impunity,  trim  the  small  tioigs  as  we  cut 
off  our  hair,  our  beards,  and  our  nails.  This  excess, 
which  nature  has  supplied  for  extra  occasions,  may  be 
safely  lopped  away ;  the  wounds  will  soon  be  healed 
in  either  case  ;  but  take  from  an  animal  his  hand,  his 
leg,  or  his  finger,  and,  though  he  may  yet  live,  you  in 
part  deprive  him  of  his  vigor. 

Let  apple-trees,  then,  have  height  as  well  as  breadth. 
Suffer  not  their  limbs  to  run  low.  If  beside  the  high- 
way, the  cattle  will  trim  too  much  ;  if  in  the  field, 
they  stop  your  plough,  that  must  not  be  a  stranger 


ON    MANURES.  79 

there.  The  stirring  of  your  grounds  and  killing  your 
grass  will  produce  fairer  fruit  than  all  the  trimming 
you  can  devise.  We  have  now  a  tall  apple-tree  by  the 
road  side.  Its  fruit  is  the  Newton  pippin.  It  bears 
every  year  from  four  to  fourteen  barrels  of  good  fruit. 
If  this  tree  had  been  headed  down,  we  could  not  hope 
for  half  that  quantity  from  the  tree.  We  are  much 
pleased  to  see,  in  a  late  number  of  the  Albany  Culti- 
vator—  one  of  the  most  able  and  practical  papers  in 
the  country  —  an  article  on  trimming  trees  that  very 
nearly  coincides  with  our  views. 

In  orchards  we  commend  straight  rows,  for  we  can 
use  the  plough  with  more  ease ;  but  this  is  not  the 
most  essential  item  in  setting  out  trees.  Mr.  Wright 
was  once  famous  for  straight  rows.  He  would  at  any 
sacrifice  put  them  in  straight  lines. 

He  once  commenced  setting  a  row,  and,  when  he 
had  planted  a  couple,  he  went  in  each  direction,  shut 
up  one  eye,  like  a  marksman,  and,  after  taking  most 
critical  sight  at  the  range  of  the  trees,  observed,  with 
much  satisfaction,  ''  There,  I  have  set  two  in  a  line." 

The  best  wash  we  ever  tried  for  young  trees  is 
strong  lie :  two  pounds  of  potash  will  make  near  a 
pailful ;  and  this  may  be  applied  by  means  of  a  swab, 
made  by  nailing  a  piece  of  cloth  to  a  handle.  A  paint- 
er's brush  is  more  handy. 


ON  MANURES,  AND  THEIR  APPLICATION  TO  THE  SOIL. 

Manures  of  this  sort,  viz.  the  excrement  of  animals, 
if  not  applied  to  the  soil  before  fermentation  takes 
place,  should  be  mixed  with  a  very  large  proportion  of 
matter  that  will  absorb  the  liquid  portions  and  retain 
the  salts  until  they  are  wanted  for  the  growing  vegeta- 


80  ON    MANURES. 

ble.  It  was  an  ancient  practice  to  keep  this  sort  in  a 
heap  till  it  had  become  old,  at  least,  if  not  rotten  ; 
for  it  is  evident  that  old  stable  manure  operated 
more  powerfully  than  new,  or  green  manure  ;  but, 
since  it  is  ascertained  that  such  manure,  while  in  the 
early  stages  of  fermentation,  promotes  vegetable  growth, 
and  that,  if  they  lie  in  heaps,  unmixed,  they  become 
too  warm  and  lose  much  of  their  strength,  the  good 
manager  must  either  add  to  the  pile  a  large  quantity  of 
mould,  of  dead  matter,  or  he  must  apply  it  immediate- 
ly to  the  soil,  and  mix  it  there  with  plough  and  har- 
row. 

If  the  entire  strength  and  richness  of  stable  manure 
can  be  secured  by  this  immediate  use  of  it,  or  covering 
under  the  field  furrow,  a  vast  amount  of  labor  in  cart- 
ing and  overhauling  may  be  saved.  If  it  is  as  well  to 
mix  it  in  the  field  as  in  the  heap,  none  would  be  at  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  heaping.  What  do  we.  gain  by 
this  latter  mode  ?  We  create  more  heat  than  we  can 
do  under  the  furrow,  and  consequently  a  more  rapid 
decomposition.  In  creating  this  heat  do  we  lose  noth- 
ing by  the  escape  of  the  gases?  Do  we  not,  in  short, 
secure,  by  burying  green  stable  manure  under  the  fur- 
row, all  the  salts  that  can  be  secured  in  any  mode  ? 
Probably  no  method  which  we  can  adopt  will  secure 
the  whole  richness  of  this  manure ;  but,  as  the  labor 
of  carting  it  a  second  time,  and  of  mixing,  is  very  con- 
siderable, and,  as  a  certain  loss  is  sustained  on  removal 
after  decomposition  has  commenced,  the  prudent  farmer 
will  probably  think  it  cheapest  and  safest  to  apply  such 
manure  immediately  to  his  soil  whenever  that  is  so 
circumstanced  that  he  can  cover  it  in  a  proper  manner. 

This  may  be  done  in  all  crops  of  Indian  corn  and  of 
potatoes,  whether  the  field  be  greensward  or  old  fur- 
row ;  but,  for  field  turnips,  or  for  garden  vegetables, 
fine  manure  is  more  proper ;  for  we  cannot,  in  these 
cases,  cover  it  so  well  with  the  plough.  Turnips  of 
all  kinds  require  the  soil  to  be  rich  on  the  surface,  and 


MAKING    AND    SALTING    OF    BUTTER.  81 

no  quantity  of  long  manure,  buried  deep  in  a  poor  soil, 
will  give  a  heavy  crop. 

When  we  speak  of  burying  manure,  we  do  not  mean 
the  burying  of  a  shovelfull  in  a  hill,  either  of  corn  or 
of  potatoes.  A  more  pernicious  practice  was  never 
adopted  by  a  farmer.  By  it  he  seldom  harvests  so 
good  a  crop  in  the  first  instance.  Then  in  what  con- 
dition is  his  manure  the  following  season  ?  In  heaps  ! 
and  his  second  crop  of  wheat,  oats,  or  rye,  will  be  in 
clusters.  His  grass,  too,  will  grow  in  heaps  ;  but  he 
gains  nothing  by  this,  for  he  must  spread  it  before  it 
can  be  fit  for  the  barn. 

It  should  be  the  aim  of  every  farmer  so  to  husband 
his  land  that  it  may  become  more  and  more  valuable 
from  year  to  year.  W.  B. 

Framingham,  Oct.,  1838. 


[From  Chambers'  Edinburgh  Journal.] 

MAKING   AND    SALTING   OF   BUTTER. 

The  following  notes  on  this  subject  are  by  an  indi- 
vidual (a  female)  who  has  been  personally  engaged  in 
the  preparation  of  butter  for  fifty  years  : 

Some  time  ago  I  observed  in  the  Journal  a  compari- 
son between  Dutch  and  English  butter.  Could  the 
particulars  of  the  Dutch  method  be  obtained  it  would 
be  a  very  desirable  acquisition  ;  but  I  apprehend  the 
superiority  of  their  butter  is  chiefly  owing  to  the  pas- 
ture and  an  unremitting  attention  to  the  duties  of  the 
dairy.  In  our  own  country  the  pasture  affects,  in  a 
high  degree,  the  quality  of  the  butter:  old  pasture 
produces  much  richer  butter  than  new  ;  and,  on  some 
hilly  grounds,  where  wild  flowers  and  certain  kinds  of 
8 


82  MAKING    AND    SALTING    OF    BUTTER. 

grass  abound,  the  flavor  is  much  finer  than  on  low 
grounds,  where  the  pasture  is  more  luxuriant. 

In  the  want  of  better  information,  regarding  this 
very  necessary  article  of  domestic  comfort,  I  am  in- 
duced to  send  you  a  feW  remarks,  which  may,  perhaps, 
induce  others  who  are  better  informed  to  do  the  same, 
so  that  the  most  approved  methods  of  curing  butter 
may,  by  the  medium  of  your  widely  circulated  paper, 
be  known  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land. 

As  a  preliminary,  I  must  beg  the  indulgence  of  being 
very  particular ;  for  the  whole  process  is  made  up  of 
small  things,  the  neglect  of  one  of  which  might  affect 
the  whole.  I  also  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  my 
observations  are  chiefly  adapted  for  the  use  of  small 
establishments,  where  from  three  to  six  cows  are  kept. 
It  is  inferred  that  every  thing  in  the  dairy  is  conducted 
with  the  most  strict  regard  to  cleanliness.  It  ought  to 
be  a  cool,  dry,  well-aired  place,  free  from  all  damp  and 
bad  smells.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
art  of  making  good  butter  consists  merely  in  having  it 
properly  churned,  thoroughly  washed,  and  sufficiently 
salted.  All  this  may  be  most  pointedly  done,  and  yet 
the  butter  turn  out  very  bad.  The  main  thing — and 
it  must  never  be  lost  sight  of  —  is  to  keep  the  milk,  in 
all  its  stages,  from  contracting  the  least  degree  of  taint. 
By  taint  I  do  not  mean  sourness.  Sourness  will  not 
injure  the  butter  :  on  the  contrary,  it  greatly  facilitates 
churning  ;  and,  to  obtain  this  in  winter,  when  cream  is 
slow  to  sour,  it  is  necessary  to  place  it,  for  twenty-four 
hours  before  churning,  within  the  influence  of  a  fire, 
and  to  stir  it  thoroughly  two  or  three  times  during  this 
period. 

Cream  ought  never  to  remain  on  milk  above  thirty- 
six  hours.  This  I  consider  to  be  a  very  important 
point ;  for  if,  by  any  omission,  cream  be  suff'ered  to  re- 
main for  a  longer  time  on  milk,  it  is  sure  to  contract 
an  old  bitter  taint :  and  it  would  be  more  true  economy 


MAKING    AND    SALTING    OF    BUTTER.  83 

to  pour  such  cream  into  the  pig's  trough  than  to  intro- 
duce it  into  the  churn,  as  it  will  spoil  the  whole.  A 
properly  leaded  stone  jar  is  better  than  a  wooden  vessel 
for  keeping  cream,  because  wood  is  more  apt  than 
stone- ware  to  get  mouldy  :  a  slight  mould  soon  com- 
municates itself  to  the  cream,  and  of  course  to  the 
butter. 

A  wooden  rod  must  be  continually  kept  in  the  jar, 
and  every  time  cream  is  added,  the  contents  must  be 
stirred  from  top  to  bottom  with  the  rod.  This  is  very 
essential ;  for,  if  neglected,  the  cream  first  put  in  will 
gradually  rise  to  the  top,  and  so  get  tainted.  Cream 
ought  never  to  be  kept  above  five  days  ;  but  four  is 
still  safer  for  butter  that  is  to  be  salted. 

If  the  atmosphere  at  the  time  of  churning  be  above 
fifty -four  degrees,  one  quart  of  the  coldest  spring-water 
to  every  three  gallons  of  cream,  put  into  the  churn  at 
commencing,  will  be  a  great  advantage,  and  will  injure 
neither  butter  nor  milk.  If  there  be  the  slightest 
cause  for  suspecting  that  the  butter  has  suffered  from 
hasty  churning  in  warm  weather,  it  ought  to  be  salted 
for  present  use,  and  not  put  into  the  kit  with  keeping 
butter. 

Butter,  on  being  taken  out  of  the  churn,  ought  to  be 
instantly  washed  in  spring-water  until  the  water  comes 
off  colorless.  After  this,  the  sooner  it  is  salted  the 
better.  In  salting,  use  the  best  English  salt,  —  such 
as  is  used  in  the  curing  of  herrings.  To  three  parts 
of  salt  add  one  part  of  loaf  sugar,  both  finely  pounded, 
and  perfectly  well  mixed.  One  ounce  of  this  to  six- 
teen ounces  of  butter  is  the  proper  quantity.  Let  it 
be  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the  butter.  In  clean- 
ing and  salting  butter,  a  stout  creaming  dish  is  prefer- 
able to  the  hands. 

Kits  made  of  wood  are  much  superior  to  stone-ware 
in  keeping  of  butter.  The  top  of  the  kit  ought  to  be 
about  one  fourth  narrower  than  the  bottom,  and  the 
wood  nearly  one  inch  in  thickness.  A  thin-wooded 
kit  is  not  so  favorable  for  preserving  butter. 


84  MAKING    AND    SALTING    OF    BUTTER. 

In  the  process  of  salting,  a  little  salt  and  water  ought 
to  cover  the  butter  from  the  first,  and  a  piece  of  thin 
linen  should  also  be  spread  over  it.  The  sides  of  the 
kit  must  be  daily  Avetted  with  thin  salt  and  water,  by 
which  mould  is  prevented  from  forming  on  the  empty 
part  of  the  kit  during  the  time  of  filling.  The  kit 
ought  to  be  filled  within  one  inch  of  the  top,  and  kept 
constantly  covered  by  linen,  and  a  pickle  of  salt  and 
water.  Butter  is  apt  to  rise  above  the  pickle.  This  is 
easily  prevented  by  turning  a  dinner-plate  over  the  but- 
ter. By  placing  a  weight  on  the  lid,  the  plate  will 
be  kept  down.  The  kits  must  be  kept  on  a  cool,  airy 
shelf  of  the  dairy  —  not  on  the  floor  —  and  occasionally 
moved  around  a  little.  Butter  for  keeping  may  with 
safety  be  salted  during  all  the  time  the  cows  are  on 
pasture.  It  is  a  most  useful  thing  to  have  a  slate  in 
the  dairy,  whereon  to  note  down  the  date  and  produce 
of  every  churning  ;  also  what  is  salted  or  otherwise  ; 
and  these  notes  to  be  set  down  occasionally  in  a  book. 
A  jar  of  ready-made  pickle,  just  strong  enough  to  move 
an  egg,  but  not  so  strong  as  to  cause  it  to  swim  to  the 
top,  ought  always  to  be  kept  in  the  dairy.  Have  also 
at  hand  a  can  of  prepared  salt  and  sugar,  to  be  kept  in 
a  dry  place,  as  the  dairy  will  be  too  damp.  The  kits 
ought  to  be  all  numbered,  and  those  first  salted  should 
be  first  used. 

I  have  still  to  beg  your  indulgence  for  a  few  thoughts 
suggested  by  the  above  observations.  In  this  enlight- 
ened age,  when  each  class  of  the  community  is  vicing 
with  the  rest  in  improving  the  commodity  which  comes 
under  their  immediate  care,  it  is  surprising  that  public 
attention  has  been  so  little  turned  to  the  improvement 
of  the  mode  of  salting  butter.  The  same  complaints 
from  the  same  cause  are  constantly  to  be  heard,  and 
there  the  matter  rests,  and  so  it  will  rest,  unless  general 
attention  be  directed  to  it,  and  a  decided  effort  be  made. 
Nothing  is  wanting  to  remove  this  grievance  but  a 
few  slight  attentions.     There  is  no  additional  toilj  no 


WHEELS.  85 

additional  expense.  What  a  pity,  then,  it  is,  that  those 
to  whose  care  the  preparing  of  this  article  is  entrusted 
cannot  bethink  themselves  to  bestow  these  slight  at- 
tentions. They  should  take  into  consideration  the 
comfort  of  thousands  of  decent  householders,  who  are 
both  able  and  willing  to  pay  for  a  wholesome  article, 
but  who  have  no  alternative,  but  either  to  use  the  but- 
ter that  is  offered  for  sale,  or  to  want  it  altogether. 
There  is  another  consideration  which  ought  to  have 
its  own  weight,  namely,  the  honor  of  their  country ; 
and  none,  however  humble,  should  think  themselves 
too  insignificant  to  contribute  to  this.  It  is  the  many 
that  make  a  whole ;  and,  if  we  always  throw  our  in- 
fluence on  the  right  side,  we  have  the  satisfaction  at 
least  of  having  done  what  we  can  to  create  the  happi- 
ness of  our  fellow-creatures. 

We  approve  of  the  above  mode  of  making  butter. 
An  idea  has  prevailed  to  some  extent  that  it  was  inju- 
rious to  wash  butter  after  churning  ;  and  it  is  contended 
that  the  goodness  is  thus  washed  out ;  but  we  are  sat- 
isfied by  experience  that  washing  in  water  assists  to 
expel  the  buttermilk  and  prepare  the  butter  for  the  tub. 
The  hand  should  never  touch  the  butter  —  provided 
the  dairy-woman  can  cleanse  her  hands  well  without 
it  —  for  every  particle  of  butter  that  is  melted  by  any 
means  serves  to  injure  the  mass.  Small  wooden  spades 
should  invariably  be  used  for  working  over  the  but- 
ter. — -  Ed. 


WHEELS. 


By  placing  wheels  perfectly  upright,  we  have  the 
plainest  rule  for  making  the  axle  ;   we  have  the  least 
8* 


86  WHEELS. 

possible  friction  ;  the  carriage  is  less  liable  to  be  over- 
set ;  and  the  tire  runs  square  on  the  road,  —  a  matter 
of  no  small  importance  where  the  felloe  is  four  or  five 
inches  wide. 

If  the  axle  of  a  chaise  is  made  to  revolve  with  the 
wheel  like  the  axle  on  railroad  cars,  there  would  be  no 
need  of  boxes  in  the  wheel.  The  axle  would  then  be 
framed  fast  into  the  hub,  and  the  boxes  for  the  axle  to 
turn  in  would  be  on  the  frame  or  shaft  of  the  chaise, 
and  the  boxes  might  then  resemble  staples  with  nuts 
to  screw  on  to  their  points  so  as  to  draw  them  up  closer 
as  the  axle  by  friction  became  less. 

In  this  mode  the  friction  would  be  less  ;  for  a  less 
surface  would  be  exposed  to  friction :  oil  or  grease 
could  be  more  easily  applied,  and  the  wheel  need 
never  be  taken  off  unless  you  break  it,  as  Tom  said 
of  his  dinner-plate  when  the  waiter  offered  to  change 
it.  Wheels  made  thus  need  not  be  so  stout  at  the  hub, 
and  would  be  much  lighter.  Little  or  no  noise  would 
be  heard  ;  for,  if  the  boxes  were  not  screwed  tight, 
there  would  be  no  tendency,  as  in  case  of  a  loose  axle 
in  a  hub,  to  rock  to  and  fro  :  the  pressure  of  the  load 
would  prevent  it.  The  only  objection  we  know  of  to 
this  mode  of  hanging  chaise-wheels  is  the  difficulty 
of  turning,  as  both  wheels  must  move  together  ;  but, 
where  a  carriage  is  loaded  no  heavier  than  a  chaise,  it 
is  easily  turned,  though  one  wheel  may  slide. 

Thus  we  should  gain  in  several  points  :  in  a  saving 
of  expense,  in  lightness,  in  oiling,  and  in  a  perfectly 
quiet  movement.  This  last  advantage,  a  quiet  move- 
ment, is  seldom  attained  in  the  first  run  of  a  chaise, 
and  it  is  never  long  kept.  When  the  wheels  have 
worn  loose  on  the  common  axle,  they  rattle  like  a 
cart,  and  no  bells  are  wanted  to  warn  the  public  to 
clear  the  way. 


ON    MANURES.  87 


ON  MANURES. 


We  wish  often  to  invite  the  attention  of  our  farmers 
to  this  subject,  that  they  may  reflect  upon  it,  and  sug- 
gest improvements  on  our  plans.  We  belong  not  to 
that  class  of  farmers  who  think  we  can  make  no  farther 
advances  in  the  science  ;  neither  would  we  be  classed 
with  that  great  farmer  spoken  of  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
who  had  made  such  wonderful  improvements  on  his 
estate,  and  pulverized  it  so  much,  that  it  all  slipped 
through  his  fingers. 

The  man  who  thinks  he  has  arrived  at  perfection  in 
farming,  will  be  no  more  likely  to  make  improvements 
therein,  than  he  who  fancies  that  his  own  morals  and 
religious  creed  are  the  purest  the  world  has  seen.  He 
is  surely  an  unprofitable  Christian  \vho  makes  no 
advances  in  piety ;  and  he  is  no  commendable  farmer 
who  refuses  to  attempt  improvements. 

While  chemists  are  investigating  the  causes  of 
sterility  of  certain  soils,  and  suggesting  the  proper 
remedies,  let  us,  who  are  practically  engaged  in  the 
labors  of  the  field,  contribute  our  mite  of  theory,  and 
prove  it  by  actual  experiments. 

We  sincerely  believe  that,  by  a  proper  management 
of  our  common  manures,  we  might  avail  ourselves  of 
double  the  profit  we  now  deri\'e  from  them,  without 
any  additional  expense.  In  the  common  mode  of 
wintering  cattle,  the  liquid  portion  of  the  manure  is 
usually  lost :  people  rarely  attempt  to  save  that  portion, 
which  is  quite  as  valuable  as  all  the  residue.  We 
would  give  thrice  as  much  for  the  manure  made  by  a 
horse  that  shall  stand  on  his  own  litter  through  the 
winter,  or  summer,  as  we  would  for  that  Avhich  is  daily 
thrown  out  into  a  heap  beside  the  barn,  to  freeze 
through  in  the  coldest  weather,  and  to  heat  and  turn 
white  as  soon  as  warm  weather  approaches. 

Pull  away,  then,  at  once  your  stable  floors,  all  who 


88  ON  Manures. 

have  stables  in  the  country,  and  let  your  horse  stand 
several  feet  below  the  barn  floor.  He  will  be  warmer 
in  winter,  and  cooler  in  summer,  than  he  will  be 
perched  up  on  a  plank  floor  ;  he  will  be  out  of  the  way 
of  both  flies  and  frost;  he  will  keep  your  manure 
from  burning  and  from  freezing ;  you  will  save  all  the 
liquid  ;  and  your  horse  will  stand  vastly  more  at  ease 
than  he  can  on  any  plank  floor. 

And  what  does  all  this  cost  you  ?  A  barn  thus  built 
will  cost  you  less  ;  you  save  the  expense  of  a  floor  that 
is  always  wanting  repairs  ;  you  save  the  trouble  of 
daily  cleaning  out  your  stable ;  you  save  your  horse's 
feet,  the  hoofs  of  which  will  grow  all  winter,  and  be 
in  good  order  for  shoeing  ;  you  treble  the  value  of  your 
manure,  for  you  save  every  gill  of  the  liquid,  and  you 
keep  it  in  the  most  perfect  manner  without  heating  or 
wasting,  till  the  very  moment  you  want  it  for  your 
compost  heap,  or  for  your  field  ;  for  as  soon  as  you  fork 
it  out  from  under  your  horse  —  and  not  before,  though 
you  delay  it  till  June  —  fermentation  commences,  and 
you  can  have  the  whole  advantage  of  this  fermenta- 
tion. 

This  new  process  costs  you  the  labor  of  throwing 
under  your  horse  any  rubbish  whatever  that  may  lie 
in  your  way,  — loam,  weeds,  scrapings  of  the  door-yard, 
leaves,  poor  hay,  straw,  —  every  thing  that  will  absorb 
the  liquids  is  thus  turned  to  manure  ;  and  if  you  keep 
your  horse  the  whole  year  in  the  stable  —  as  you  should 
do  if  you  intend  he  should  be  handy  and  useful  to  you  — 
his  manure  will  amount  to  fifteen  loads,  and  will  prove 
more  durable  in  your  soil  than  any  you  shall  make 
from  neat  cattle  or  from  hogs. 

The  liquid  part  of  horse-manure  is  found  to  contain 
great  quantities  of  ammonia,  which  is  well  known  as 
one  of  the  best  articles  for  vegetation.  The  whole 
philosophy  of  thus  preserving  your  manure  from  over- 
heating consists  in  its  being  excluded  from  the  air  by 
the    firm  beating  which   the   horse's  feet  give  to  it. 


SOILS.  89 

Your  horse's  cellar  should  be  about  ten  feet  square, 
that  the  manure  may  not  rise  too  high  before  you  are 
ready  to  remove  it ;  but  you  can  occasionall}?"  tie  a 
friend's  horse  beside  him  when  you  have  not  other 
room,  and  they  will  never  kick  each  other  if  their  heads 
are  tied  apart ;  for  horses  never  suffer  their  heels  to 
make  war  until  some  notes  have  passed  at  head- 
quarters.* 


SOILS. 

It  is  agreed  by  chemists  that  most  of  the  soils  with 
which  we  are  acquainted  consist  of  sand,  clay,  and 
lime  :  we  beg  the  reader's  pardon  for  using  these  plain, 
simple  terms,  and  fear  we  shall  not  be  understood  by 
some  who  have  become  used  to  silicious,  aluminous, 
and  calcareous  soils  so  long  that  they  may  have  for- 
gotten their  mother  tongue ;  but  as  it  is  our  object  to 
treat  of  things  rather  than  of  words,  Ave  intend,  at  the 
risk  of  our  reputation  as  a  Latin  scholar,  to  make  use  of 
the  English  language  in  all  cases  where  that  is  capable 
of  conveying  our  meaning. 

Sand,  clay,  and  lime,  then,  are  the  principal  con- 
stituents of  most  of  our  soils,  though  magnesia  is  often 
found  in  small  quantities:  iron  ore  and  other  minerals 
are  occasionally  found  intermixed,  but  they  are  not 
considered  as  forming  a  portion  of  the  soil.  Lime  is 
found  in  but  very  small  quantity  in  any  New  England 
soil,  and  Professor  Hitchcock  is  surprised  to  find  so 
little  in  the  soils  of  Berkshire  county  which  are  founded 
on  limestone. 

He  says  that  some  of  the  soils  in  Europe  contain 
fifty  per  cent,  of  lime,  or  calcareous  matter,  and  that 

*  Written  when  Maine  was  going  to  war  with  the  British  without 
leave  of  congress. 


90  SOILS. 

only  one  in  thirty  of  our  soils  contains  any.  That  the 
lack  of  this  matter  is  not  confined  to  Massachusetts, 
but  that  similar  statements  are  made  by  Edmund 
Ruffin,  Esq.  of  Virginia,  of  the  soils  of  that  State,  and 
of  some  of  the  Western  States,  even  in  limestone 
regions.  He  states,  further,  that  he  has  recently  ex- 
amined five  of  the  richest  soils  of  Ohio  and  Illinois, 
and  that  though  he  found  calcareous  matter  in  all  but 
one  of  them,  yet  that  the  average  quantity  is  not  over 
two  per  cent. 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  if  our  soils  are  wholly  desti- 
tute of  lime,  but  little  would  be  wanted  yearly  for  any 
kind  of  grain.  But  why  so  much  lime  should  be  used 
in  Europe  on  soils  that  seem  to  abound  in  that  article 
is  wholly  inexplicable.  We  have  some  of  the  richest 
soils  on  the  globe  in  Ohio  and  Illinois,  and  these  con- 
tain not  more  than  two  per  cent,  of  lime  ;  while  some 
European  soils  contain  fifty  per  cent,  of  lime,  on  which 
more  is  artificially  spread,  to  make  them  fertile  !  We 
are  much  inclined  to  think  that  something  besides 
lime  is  wanted  on  our  New  England  soils. 

Iron  ore  is  found  often  in  our  low  intervals :  you 
detect  it  on  the  surface  of  little  puddles  of  water  in 
your  low  grounds :  it  sometimes  shines  like  silver. 
Lime  would  be  beneficial  in  all  such  places  to  neutral- 
ize the  acids.  Spots  abounding  in  iron  ore  are  among 
the  most  barren  in  our  country  ;  and  yet  their  location 
is  often  favorable  for  the  largest  crops  of  grass,  were  it 
not  for  the  presence  of  this  mineral. 

The  principal  constituents  of  soils,  then,  are  sand 
and  clay ;  and  the  proportions  of  these  in  Massachusetts 
in  many  fields  would  be  found  to  be  ninety  of  sand, 
to  ten  of  clay,  while,  in  many  districts  in  England,  we 
shall  find  these  proportions  reversed.  Clay  is  the 
article  most  wanted  to  improve  the  texture  of  the  soils 
of  Essex,  Middlesex,  Norfolk,  Plymouth,  Bristol  and 
Worcester  counties.  And  clay  is  sometimes  found  so 
near  the  surface,  that  a  good  plough  will  bring  it  up 
and  mix  it  with  the   sandy  surface  soil.     When  this 


PEAT    LANDS.  91 

can  be  done,  it  is  the  cheapest  mode  of  correcting  a  soil 
and  making  it  permanently  better.  When  the  surface 
soil  is  too  clayey  or  heavy,  it  may  sometimes  be  cor- 
rected by  ploughing  so  deep  as  to  mix  up  with  it  a 
lighter  and  more  sandy  soil.  This  process  is  attended 
with  very  little  expense,  compared  with  that  of  carting 
one  kind  of  soil  upon  another  from  a  distance.  It  is 
believed  that  all  mixtures  of  soils  are  beneficial  — 
unless,  perhaps,  you  have  already  a  perfect  mixture  — 
and  the  new  compound  is  generally  put  into  a  partial 
state  of  fermentation,  which  is  always  promotive  of 
vegetable  growth. 


PEAT  LANDS. 

Whenever  you  find  a  peat  bottom  that  can  be 
drained,  you  may  be  sure  of  a  good  bottom  for  grass  as 
you  would  be  after  travelling  and  pitching  your  tent  in 
Michigan  or  Illinois.  If  the  meadow  is  not  abundant 
in  springs,  your  ditches  may  be  two  rods  apart,  and  in 
some  cases  more.  It  is  not  advisable  to  make  them 
nearer  than  is  necessary,  for  we  occasionally  want  to 
plough  these  meadows,  and  frequent  ditches  are  in  our 
way. 

In  a  dry  summer,  the  cheapest  mode  of  bringing  to 
fertility  these  lands  is  to  pare  and  burn  them  ;  and  when 
you  have  a  good  burn,  the  ashes  will  be  a  sufficient 
manure  for  years.  Paring  is  sometimes  performed  with 
a  paring  plough  —  the  share  having  two  wings,  one 
branching  to  the  right  like  a  common  plough-share,  and 
the  other  to  the  left  —  the  coulter  in  the  centre,  and  no 
mould-board  to  your  plough. 

When  this  is  in  good  order,  one  yoke  of  cattle  will 
draw  it  through  large  hassocks  where  three  yoke  would 


92  GRAIN    WORM. 

not  drag  a  plough.  The  object  of  paring  in  this  mode 
is  to  furnish  or  to  leave  a  good  footing  for  the  oxen,  for 
they  can  seldom  walk  in  the  furrow.  After  thus  par- 
ing, hoes  and  forks  must  be  used  to  turn  it  up  dry ;  and 
it  will  frequently  burn  well  within  two  weeks  of  par- 
ing. Sometimes  you  need  be  at  no  trouble  in  piling 
up  the  sods,  and  in  that  case  your  ashes  are  ready  spread, 
and  you  have  nothing  more  to  do  than  with  a  harrow 
or  a  rake,  where  it  is  miry,  to  mix  well  the  ashes  with 
the  surface  that  is  unburnt,  and  sow  a  peck  of  herds- 
grass  and  a  bushel  of  red-top  to  the  acre.  September 
is  the  best  month  for  sowing  :  then  we  are  sure  of  a 
crop  for  the  scythe  the  next  season. 


[From  the  Maine  Farmer.] 

GRAIN  WORM. 


Mr.  Editor, — It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the 
wheat-raising  business,  in  at  least  some  parts  of  our 
State,  is  likely  to  meet  with  a  serious  check  from  the 
ravages  of  the  grain  icorm.  When  the  attention  of 
farmers  was  beginning  to  be  turned  to  this  business, 
when  encouraged  by  the  munificence  of  the  legisla- 
ture, and  when  from  practice  they  were  fast  gaining  a 
better  understanding  of  the  business,  we  would  all  have 
hoped  that  the  production  of  wheat  would  have  in- 
creased, till  our  State  had  become  independent  of  other 
countries  for  this  article  of  sustenance.  But  this  ''  lit- 
tle rascal  "  is  a  ^re«Y  e?ie?77?/;  and  how  successfully  to 
repel  his  attacks,  I  confess  I  do  not  know.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  the  part  of  prudence  not  to  risk  too  much  in 
his  way  ;  that  is,  not  to  depend  chiefly  on  wheat,  but 
raise  more  corn  and  other  grain ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  would  be  the  part  of  valor  not  to  give  up  the 


ON    CUTTING    FORESTS. 


93 


field  and  abandon  raising  wheat  altogether,  but  try  and 
see  if  we  cannot  by  some  means  prevent  the  destruc- 
tion which  is  made. 

In  order  to  prepare  to  guard  against  injury  from  this 
insect,  it  appears  to  me  that  it  is  important  that  we 
ascertain  the  time  when  the  mischief  is  done,  or  the 
stage  in  the  growth  of  wheat  when  the  fly  deposits  its 
eggs.  I  find  that  the  general  opinion  is,  that  this  time 
is  when  the  wheat  is  in  blossom.  But  from  some 
observations  of  my  own,  and  of  others,  I  am  incUned 
to  think  this  is  not  the  time  in  question,  bnt  that 
the  fly  deposits  its  eggs  before  the  wheat  heads  out.  I 
have  noticed  httlc  flies  that  appeared  to  come  out 
from  the  sockets  of  wheat  before  it  headed,  and  it  has 
been  observed  by  others,  that  they  have  discovered 
eggs  and  small  worms,  by  stripping  the  leaves  off  the 
wheat  before  the  head  had  grown  out.  It  appears 
more  reasonable  to  me  that  the  fly  deposits  its  egg  at 
once  in  the  socket  of  wheat  before  it  heads,  and  that 
the  worms  attach  themselves  to  the  heads  as  they  grow 
out,  and  find  their  way  into  the  kernels,  than  to  sup- 
pose that  the  fly  crawls  round  the  head  and  lays  its 
eggs  singly  in  each  kernel,  at  the  time  of  blossoming. 
I  think  we  should  examine  into  this  thing  ;  for,  if  we 
apply  a  good  remedy  at  the  ivrong  time,  it  will  be  una- 
vailing. B.  R. 
Winthrop. 


ON  CUTTING  FORESTS. 


It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  the  best  mode  of 

procuring  wood  from  the  forest  is  to  cut  clean  as  you 

go.     Public  sentiment  in  this  respect  has  undergone  a 

total  change  ;  and,  since  our  remembrance,  the  practice 

9 


94  RAISING    ROOTS. 

of  going  into  the  midst  of  a  lot  and  singling  out  the 
oldest  trees  for  fuel  was  very  general. 

A  forest  thus  thinned  would  not  afford,  half  the  wood 
in  a  century  that  you  may  obtain  from  one  managed  in 
a  different  mode.  By  cutting  off  the  large  trees  only, 
we  not  only  destroy  much  underwood,  but  we  leave  no 
stumps  that  may  send  up  sprouts  for  another  cutting. 
And  by  leaving  one  fourth  of  a  thick  lot  standing,  we 
effectually  prevent  the  shooting  up  of  a  new  progeny. 
For  wood  merely,  lots  may  be  cut  once  in  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  ;  that  is,  if  they  have  grown  from  stumps 
not  more  than  twenty  years  old  ;  and  ten  acres  of  good 
wood-land,  Avith  one  fourth  of  an  acre  of  good  peat- 
land,  are  abundantly  sufficient  to  supply  the  fuel  of 
any  private  family  in  Massachusetts. 

Cut  off  half  an  acre  clear  each  winter,  and  by  the 
time  you  have  gone  through  your  I'ot  you  may  begin 
again  ;  and  here  is  a  rotation  of  crops  as  durable  as  the 
rotation  of  the  seasons.  You  may  generally  obtain, 
from  good  land,  ten  to  fifteen  cords  on  the  acre,  and 
one  square  rod  of  peat  will  give  you  four  cords  of  fuel 
that  will  answer  for  back-logs  and  for  mixing  with 
lighter  inflammable  matter,  that  will  not  preserve  your 
fire  through  the  night  with  half  the  certainty  of  a  log 
of  peat. 


RAISING  ROOTS. 


The  cultivation  of  roots  is  becoming  a  very  impor- 
tant branch  of  husbandry  among  the  farmers  of  the 
New  England  States.  It  is  now  rendered  certain  that, 
with  good  cultivation,  five  or  six  hundred  bushels  of 
ruia  baga  can  be  raised  to  the  acre  at  a  cost  not  ex- 
ceeding four  or  five  cents  per  bushel.     The  value  of 


FARM-CARTS.  95 

this  crop  in  supplying  neat  stock,  sheep,  and  swine, 
with  food  through  our  long  winters  is  just  beginning 
to  be  appreciated.  Its  value  is  differently  estimated  by 
persons  who  have  used  it.  Some  think  that  forty 
bushels  are  equal  to  a  ton  of  hay  ;  others  consider  them 
as  good  as  oats,  pound  for  pound.  A  gentleman  who 
made  some  very  accurate  experiments  in  feeding  them 
to  his  team  of  four  oxen,  found  it  to  be  equal  to  half  its 
weight  in  corn-meal.  There  is  one  fact  in  which  all 
agree  ;  that  is,  cattle  that  are  fed  plentifully  on  roots 
during  the  winter  are  not  so  liable  to  have  those  dis- 
eases which  are  generally  prevalent  among  cattle  in 
the  spring. 

The  only  opportunity  we  ever  had  of  witnessing  the 
advantages  of  feeding  roots  was  with  a  cow,  which  re- 
sulted in  a  firm  conviction  of  their  utility.  Instead  of 
becoming  poor  in  the  spring,  she  left  the  barn  in  excel- 
lent condition  ;  gave  a  much  larger  mess  of  milk 
through  the  winter  than  usual  ;  and,  instead  of  going 
dry  six  or  eight  weeks  before  calving,  as  she  always  had 
done  before,  she  gave  milk  to  the  very  da)?"  she  calved, 
and  during  the  next  summer  she  gave  nearly  a  third 
more  than  she  had  ever  given  before  in  the  same  time 
on  equally  as  good  keeping. — Maine  Farmer. 


FARM-CARTS. 


The  rims  of  the  wheels  of  farm-carts  should  be  about 
four  inches  wide.  We  have  had  them  one  third 
wider,  but  such  are  not  so  durable  or  so  useful.  A  six- 
inch  felloe  is  much  more  liable  to  rot  than  a  four-inch 
felloe  ;  it  is  also  heavier  and  more  unwieldy ;  and  a  rim 
of  iron,  or  the  tire,  on  such  a  wide  felloe,  must  be  put 
on  in  pieces,  or  in  narrow  strips.    This  mode  of  tiring 


96 


ON    PLOUGHING. 


leaves  the  extremities  of  the  spokes  exposed,  and  they 
soon  rot,  for  the  wet  that  enters  here  is  not  soon 
dried  up. 

A  four-inch  felloe  may  have  a  whole  hoop-tire  put  on 
it;  and  it  answers  all  the  purposes  of  a  wider  rim,  be- 
sides being  cheaper.  The  rim  should  never  be  much 
narrower  than  four  inches,  for  otherwise  it  cuts  into 
soft  ground  and  runs  harder  through  a  field  than  a 
wide  one,  and  does  much  more  damage. 

The  end  of  the  cart-tongue  should  never  be  plated 
with  iron.  It  wears  out  your  sta))le  and  ring  on  the 
yoke  too  fast,  and  the  plating  itself  is  not  of  long 
duration.  Cut  again  in  the  under  side  of  the  tongue 
eight  inches  from  the  end  of  it,  and  wide  enough  to 
admit  the  ring,  and  sink  it  about  three  fourths  of  an 
inch  deep.  When  you  have  put  your  oxen  on,  in  case 
the  tongue  nearly  fills  the  ring,  the  gain  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  carry  your  load  ;  but  to  make  all  safe,- take  a 
strip  of  board  one  foot  long,  as  wide  as  the  tongue,  and 
as  thick  as  the  ring  will  easily  admit.  Let  it  come 
forward  flush  with  the  end  of  the  tongue,  and  pin  it  on 
to  your  tongue  back  of  the  ring  of  the  yoke  ;  this  pin 
need  be  no  tighter  than  the  pin  you  usually  draw  by, 
so  you  may  easily  ungear  your  team.  This  board  will 
prevent  the  wearing  of  the  staple  on  the  end  of  the 
tongue,  and,  when  worn  out,  is  easily  replaced.  Indeed, 
the  whole  may  be  made  new  in  less  time  than  it  takes 
to  describe  the  process,  and  your  tongue  will  last  much 
longer,  geared  in  this  way,  than  with  iron  plates,  unless 
those  are  made  quite  too  heavy  for  convenient  use. 


ON  PLOUGHING. 


The  season  now  approaches  when  we  must  begin 
to  think  of  ploughing.     We  hope  our  brother  farmers 


ON    PLOUGHING.  97 

have  not  all  been  so  much  troubled  as  we  have  been 
to  find  a  cast-iron  plough  that  would  do  the  whole 
work  of  cutting  and  turning  the  sod  without  the  aid 
of  the  foot  of  a  wrestler.  This  amusement  of  wrest- 
ling is  now  out  of  date,  and  the  young  may  not  take 
our  meaning ;  but,  in  ancient  times,  the  best  wrestler 
was  always  selected  to  hold  the  plough,  because  he 
could  actively  handle  his  feet  to  aid  the  imperfect  ma- 
chinery bearing  that  appellation. 

Now  we  have  grown  lazier  or  wiser,  and  are  desirous 
of  throwing  all  the  hard  work  on  to  our  hired  men  or 
our  machines,  that  we  may  not  become  too  tired  at 
noon  or  at  night  to  read  our  long-expected  Cultivator. 

Ploughs  for  our  plain  lands  require  more  length  of 
body  than  most  of  our  cast-iron  ploughs  possess  ;  and 
we  believe  one  reason  for  making  them  so  short  was 
a  fear  that  long  cast-iron  mould-boards,  or  rather  mould- 
ers, would  be  too  liable  to  be  broken  ;  but,  since  they 
are  made  of  better  metal  than  formerly,  there  is  little 
risk  of  breaking  a  long  moulder  with  careful  usage. 

Our  lands  that  were  in  corn  or  potatoes  last  year  will 
this  spring  be  laid  to  grass,  for  we  need  not,  in  tolera- 
bly plain  land,  plant  more  than  one  year  before  seeding 
down  with  broad-cast  grain,  not  choosing  to  disturb 
the  buried  sod  :  that  is  wanted  at  bottom  to  keep  the 
land  light.  Now  how  many  times  must  we  plough  to 
prepare  our  lands  for  spring  grain  and  grass-seed  ? 
Shall  we  turn  under  all  the  corn-stalks,  the  sorrel,  the 
grass,  and  the  weeds  that  lie  on  the  surface ;  then,  by 
a  second,  or  cross-ploughing,  turn  all  this  matter  up 
again,  for  fear  it  might  rot  and  turn  to  manure  ?  This 
is  what  we  all  formerly  practised,  but  can  any  one  jus- 
tify the  practice  ? 

We  must  not  take  the  plough  to  the  field  in  spring 
till  the  ground  is  so  dry  as  not  to  be  made  into  bricks  ; 
yet  we  wish  to  begin  as  soon  as  it  is  fit,  for  the  sooner 
we  harrow  in  our  spring  grain  on  suitable  land  the 
better.  Now  we  may  begin  to  harrow  our  ground  a 
9* 


98  ON    PLOUGHING. 

day  or  two  sooner  than  we  can  begin  to  plough  it. 
The  harrow  opens  the  ground,  lets  in  the  air,  and  fits 
the  soil  for  the  plough.  Take  the  harrow,  then,  if 
you  are  impatient  to  begin  spring  work^  level  down 
hills,  if  yon  made  any  last  year,  with  this  or  with  your 
cultivator,  and  then  plough  hut  once^  though  you  may 
take  as  fine  a  furrow  as  you  please.  Bury  the  stalks, 
the  weeds,  and  all  the  rubbish  underneath,  and  there 
let  it  lie  till  it  becomes  manure.  It  is  all  wanted  be- 
low, but  none  above.  As  a  general  rule,  no  land  should 
be  ploughed  twice  in  the  same  month.  Very  rough 
land  must  be  treated  differently.  It  must  be  cross- 
ploughed,  to  take  advantage  of  the  stones  and  the 
fixed  stumps.  But  it  is  very  absurd,  in  plane  fields, 
after  we  have  laid  the  soil  right  side  up,  to  disturb  it 
again  before  we  take  a  crop. 

No  unrotted  manures  should  be  used  for  spring  grain. 
Old  and  rotten  manure,  in  proper  quantity,  will  do  no 
harm  ;  for  it  works  immediately,  brings  your  grain  for- 
ward early,  and  it  often  ripens  before  the  sultry  weath- 
er comes  on  ;  or  it  is  so  far  spent  before  that  time,  it 
does  no  injury  :  whereas,  green  manure  begins  to  ope- 
rate at  the  very  time  when  there  is  most  danger  from 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  grain  —  that  is,  in  July  —  and 
if  it  is  very  hot  and  sultry — such  weather  as  Indian 
corn  delights  in  —  the  grain  grows  so  rapidly  as  to  burst 
the  stalk  open  and  let  out  its  juices.  They  flow  down 
the  outside  of  the  stalk  and  form  what  we  call  rust 
upon  it. 

In  confirmation  of  this  doctrine,  we  understand  that 
this  rust  does  not  make  its  appearance  in  England. 
That  is  a  colder  climate,  and  grain  is  much  longer  in 
coming  to  perfection  than  in  our  country.  Hence, 
also,  we  raise  better  English  grain  in  cool  summers 
than  in  warm  ones ;  and  few  summers  yield,  at  the  same 
time,  our  greatest  crops  of  corn  and  of  English  grain. 

Though  we  much  prefer  seeding  down  to  grass  in 
September,  yet  lands  planted  last  year,  and  prepared 


BUCKWHEAT.  99 

for  spring  grain  this  spring,  may  better  be  sown  with 
grass-seed  also  in  spring.  If  we  delay  this  till  fall, 
and  plough  in  the  stubble  of  the  grain,  the  seed  is  not 
sure  to  vegetate  from  the  want  of  moisture  in  the  fur- 
row, and  we  lose  our  labor  and  our  next  summer's 
crop.  If  the  soil  is  dry  and  inclining  to  sand,  a  few 
bushels  of  ashes  spread  on  an  acre  after  the  grain  is 
up,  or  before,  will  often  prevent  the  summer  killing  of 
the  grass  among  the  grain,  and  will  prove  beneficial 
to  the  whole  crop. 


BUCKWHEAT. 


Every  farmer  must  cultivate  some  kind  of  grain, 
and,  by  the  help  of  the  refuse  from  his  dairy,  must 
fatten  some  pork.  Present  prices  would  justify  his 
feeding  his  swine  largely  on  grain  ;  but  we  cannot 
expect  such  prices  to  continue,  and  must  be  cautious  of 
founding  our  calculations  on  the  price  current  of  one 
month  or  one  year.  But  pork  must  be  produced,  and 
we  must  endeavor  to  make  it  as  economically  as  possi- 
ble. 

We  want  grain  of  some  kind  to  mix  with  our  refuse 
matter  earlier  in  the  season  than  we  can  harvest  our 
Indian  corn.  Barley  in  many  places  succeeds  well,  and 
comes  in  a  d  of  our  early  vegetables  and  of  our  skimmed 
milk  in  August  and  in  September.  But  barley  in 
many  places  is  an  uncertain  crop  :  it  requires  as  rich 
land  as  wheat,  and  is  probably  as  great  an  exhauster 
of  the  soil.  It  sometimes  gives  us  an  abundant  har- 
vest ;  but  we  cannot  depend  upon  it. 

Buckwheat  will  grow  on  almost  any  dry  soil ;  and, 
although  it  produces  a  less  quantity  than  barley,  the 


100  EARTHS    AND    SOILS. 

crop  is  a  sure  one  :  you  obtain  it  without  manure.  As 
we  never  sow  this  before  the  middle  of  June,  we  have 
a  fine  opportunity  to  plough  in  all  the  green  growth  of 
that  season  ;  and  this  is  probably  one  reason  why  we 
can  raise  buckwheat  year  after  year  on  the  same  plat 
without  a  diminished  crop,  and  without  exhausting  the 
soil. 

Another  reason  is,  this  plant  receives  more  nutriment 
from  the  atmosphere  than  any  other  grain  we  have 
sown.  Its  leaves  are  broad,  and  its  roots  are  small  in 
proportion  to  its  top,  so  that  ten  crops  in  succession  are 
often  taken  with  one  ploughing  a  year,  and  without 
manure.  At  the  time  of  sowing  the  wheat  —  from  the 
15th  to  the  30th  of  June  —  throv/  on,  also,  to  an  acre, 
one  bushel  of  winter  rye.  It  will  not  interfere  with 
the  wheat,  and  will  give  you  some  feed  in  autumn  : 
then,  at  the  next  ploughing  in  June,  you  have  a  coat 
of  manure  to  plough  under  that  has  cost  you  only  the 
price  of  one  bushel  of  rye,  all  on  the  ground  and  ready 
spread. 

Buckwheat  straw  should  not  be  burnt  on  the  field 
as  it  formerly  was.  It  is  quite  valuable  when  cut  in 
season  for  young  cattle  and  for  sheep. 


[From  the  Farmers'  Cabinet.] 

EARTHS  AND  SOILS. 


In  the  investigation  of  agricultural  subjects,  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  as  correctly  as  possible  dis- 
tinguish earths  and  soils,  and  their  varieties.  The 
earths  important  to  agriculture,  and  which  form  nearly 
the  whole  surface  of  the  globe,  capable  of  producing 
vegetation,  are  only  four,  viz.  silicious,  aluminous,  cal- 
careous, and  magnesia. 


EARTHS    AND    SOILS.  101 

As  a  full  description  of  all  the  distinctive  characters 
of  these  earths  could  not  be  embraced  within  the  com- 
pass of  my  contemplated  communication,  I  shall  mere- 
ly mention  a  few,  by  which  may  be  understood  the 
effects  they  necessarily  produce  in  forming  a  compound 
best  calculated  to  produce  vegetation. 

Silicious  earth  exists  in  the  state  of  sand.  It  is 
composed  of  very  hard  particles,  which  cannot  be 
made  coherent  by  mixing  with  water.  The  solidity 
of  the  particles  of  sand  renders  them  impenetrable  to 
water,  and  their  loose  arrangement  makes  sand  incapa- 
ble of  retaining  water.  It  is  also  quickly  heated  by 
the  sun,  which  adds  to  the  rapidity  with  which  it 
loses  moisture. 

Aluminous  earth,  when  dry,  adheres  to  the  tongue, 
absorbs  water  rapidly  and  abundantly,  and,  when  wet, 
forms  a  tough  paste,  smooth  and  soapy  to  the  touch. 
By  burning,  it  becomes  very  hard :  when  drying, 
aluminous  earth  shrinks  greatly  ;  it  becomes  a  mass  of 
hard  lumps,  separated  by  cracks  and  fissures,  which 
become  so  many  little  reservoirs  of  standing  water 
when  filled  by  rains,  and  remain  so  when  the  lumps, 
by  slowly  imbibing  the  water,  are  distended  enough 
to  fill  the  space  occupied  before. 

Calcareous  earth,  or  carbonate  of  lime,  is  calcareous 
earth  combined  with  carbonic  acid,  and  may  be  con- 
verted into  quicklime  by  heat.  Lime  is  soluble  in 
acids:  during  the  solution,  the  carbonic  acid  escapes 
with  effervescence.  In  this  manner,  the  carbonic  of 
lime,  or  calcareous  earth,  may  not  be  easily  distin- 
guished from  silicious  and  aluminous  earths,  but  from 
all  other  combinations  of  lime.  Magnesia  earth,  like 
lime,  is  usually  found  in  combination  with  carbonic 
acid  ;  but  even  in  this,  its  natural  state,  it  exists  in 
such  very  small  quantities  in  soils,  and  is  found  so 
rarely,  that  its  name  is  a  useless  addition  to  the  lists  of 
the  earths  of  agriculture. 

All  the  earths  individually,  when  as  pure  as  they 


103 


EARTHS    AND    SOILS. 


are  ever  furnished  by  nature,  are  entirely  barren,  nor 
would  any  addition  of  putrescent  manures  enable 
either  of  the  earths  to  support  healthy  vegetable  life. 
The  mixture  of  the  three  earths,  in  due  proportion, 
will  correct  the  defects  of  all  ;  and,  with  a  sufficiency 
of  animal  or  vegetable  matter,  a  soil  is  formed.  Such 
is  the  natural  surface  of  almost  all  the  habitable  world  ; 
and  though  the  qualities  and  value  of  soils  are  as  vari- 
ous as  the  proportion  of  their  ingredients,  yet  they  are 
mostly  so  constituted,  that  no  one  earthy  ingredient  is 
so  abundant  but  that  the  texture  of  the  soil  is  mechan- 
ically suited  to  the  production  of  some  valuable  crop. 
Some  plants  require  a  degree  of  closeness,  and  others 
of  openness,  in  the  soil,  which  would  cause  other  plants 
to  decline  or  perish.  As  the  qualities  and  value  of 
soils  depend  on  the  proportions  of  their  ingredients, 
and  the  grand  desideratum  in  agriculture  is  to  obtain  a 
mixture  of  the  earths  best  calculated  to  produce  the 
greatest  variety  of  the  most  valuable  crops,  we  can 
satisfactorily  comprehend  in  what  manner  that  object 
may  be  obtained.  Silicious  and  aluminous  earths,  by 
their  mixture,  serve  to  cure  the  defects  of  each  other. 
The  open,  loose,  thirsty  and  hot  nature  of  sand  being 
corrected  by  and  correcting  in,  turn  the  close,  adhesive, 
and  wet  qualities  of  aluminous  earth.  This  curative 
operation,  however,  is  merely  mechanical,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  calcareous  earth,  when  in  large  propor- 
tion, also  aids  the  corrective  power  of  other  earths.  In 
addition,  also,  to  the  mechanical  effects  of  calcareous 
earth,  it  possesses  chemical  powers  more  effectual  in 
altering  the  texture  of  soils,  and  for  which  a  com- 
paratively small  quantity  is  sufficient.  The  chemical 
action  of  calcareous  earth,  as  an  ingredient  of  soils, 
will  be  particularly  noticed  hereafter,  when  we  come 
to  the  consideration  of  the  food  of  plants.  From  what 
has  been  said,  it  would  appear  reasonable  to  class  and 
name  soils  according  to  their  predominant  earthy  in- 
gredients which  exert  the    greatest  power,   and  most 


EARTHS    AND    SOILS.  103 

Strongly  mark  the  character  of  the  soil.  The  predomi- 
nant ingredient  is  not  always  the  most  abundant.  If 
the  most  abundant  was  considered  the  predominant 
ingredient,  and  gave  its  name  to  the  soil,  then  almost 
everyone  should  be  called  silicious,  as  that  earth  is 
seldom  equaled  in  quantity  by  ail  the  others  united. 
If  the  earthy  parts  of  a  soil  were  two  thirds  silicious 
and  one  third  aluminous  earth,  the  peculiar  qualities  of 
the  smaller  ingredient  would  predominate  over  the 
opposing  qualities  of  the  sand,  and  the  mixture  would 
be  a  tenacious  clay.  If  the  same  soil  had  contained 
only  one  twentieth  part  of  calcareous  earth,  that  ingre- 
dient would  have  had  more  marked  effects  on  the  soil 
than  could  have  been  produced  by  either  doubling  or 
diminishing  to  half  their  quantity  the  silicious  and 
aluminous  earths  which  formed  the  great  bulk  of  the 
soil.  But  every  farmer  can  readily  discover  what  are 
the  most  marked  good  or  bad  qualities  of  his  soil,  as 
evinced  under  tillage ;  and  those  qualities  can  be  easily 
traced  to  their  predominant  ingredients.  A  silicious 
or  sandy  soil  has  such  a  proportion  of  silicious  earth 
as  to  show  more  of  its  peculiar  properties  than  of  any 
other  ingredient.  It  would  be  more  or  less  objection- 
able for  its  looseness,  heat,  or  want  of  power  to  retain 
moisture,  and  not  for  toughness,  liability  to  become 
hard  after  wet  ploughing,  or  any  other  quality  of  alumi- 
nous earth.  In  like  manner,  an  aluminous  or  clayey 
soil  would  show  strongly  the  faults  of  aluminous 
earth,  though  more  than  half  its  bulk  might  be  of 
silicious  earth.  Hence  every  farmer  can  readily  judge 
of  the  perfection  and  of  the  defects  of  his  soil,  which, 
from  a  knowledge  of  the  distinctive  properties  of  the 
earths,  he  will  be  enabled  to  correct  by  the  addition 
and  mechanical  mixture  of  such  earth  as  may  appear 
to  be  deficient,  thereby  produce  a  soil  the  best  cal- 
culated to  promote  the  growth  and  perfection  of  vege- 
tation. Joseph  Cloud. 


104         PRODUCTION  AND  CONSUMPTION. 


PRODUCTION  AND  CONSUMPTION. 

Considerable  surprise  has  been  manifested  in  vari- 
ous quarters,  at  the  continued  high  prices  of  grain  and 
other  articles  of  food  ;  and  much  ingenuity  has  been 
displayed  in  tracing  the  effect  of  prices  to  their  proba- 
ble causes.  With  some  the  cause  is  a  failure  of  crops; 
others  will  have  the  high  prices  originate  in  monopoly 
and  speculation  ;  they  have  been  charged  upon  the 
banks  or  the  government ;  or,  in  short,  therc  is  scarcely 
a  cause  capable,  or  any  effect  in  producing  such  a  result, 
which  has  not  been  brought  forward  to  account  for 
present  prices.  While  all  these  have  had  their  weight 
in  producing  the  effect  we  witness,  we  think  the  most 
important  of  the  whole — ■-  the  relation  existing  between 
production  and  consumption  —  has  been  comparatively 
overlooked. 

Agriculture  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  interests,  the  pro- 
duction-^ of  food  being  of  paramount  importance  :  but 
the  relative  prosperity  of  that  interest,  or  rather  the 
price  of  agricultural  productions,  is  depending  on  the 
demand  for  them  among  other  classes  of  the  commu- 
nity, such  as  the  mechanic,  commercial,  or  manufactur- 
ing interests.  The  price  of  provisions  will  usually, 
therefore,  correspond  to  the  relative  numbers  employed 
in  these  grand  divisions;  the  first,  or  the  farmers,  being 
the  producers  ;  the  latter,  or  the  several  classes  enumer- 
ated, being  the  consumers.  If,  in  any  community,  all 
were  producers,  it  is  clear  the  demand  would  be  only 
that  of  the  individual  producers.  If  in  a  community 
all  were  manufacturers  or  mechanics  —  all  consumers 
and  none  producers  —  the  result  may  be  easily  imagined. 
If,  in  this  community,  the  producing  class  exceeded 
the  others,  ])rovisions  would  be  low,  as  the  demand 
must  of  course  be  limited  ;  if  the  consuming  class  pre- 
ponderated, the  price  of  provisions  must  rise.  Partial 
failures  in  the  crop,  fluctuations  in  the  money  market, 


PRODUCTION  AND  CONSUMPTION.  105 

and  other  causes  may  aid  in  influencing  or  in  increasing 
the  operation  of  this  canse,  but  their  effect  can  be  but 
temporary,  as  they  never  exist  for  any  length  of  time. 
On  the  contrary,  inequality  between  the  production  and 
consumption  is,  from  the  nature  of  the  cause,  more 
permanent,  as  the  business  and  habits  of  large  masses 
of  men  are  changed  slowly  and  at  long  intervals. 

The  prices  of  agricultiu'al  produce  which  have  ex- 
isted for  a  year  or  two  in  this  country,  and  which 
appear  to  have  excited  so  much  surprise,  we  consider 
the  natural  result  of  a  disparity  between  the  production 
and  the  consumption,  the  latter  exceeding  the  former. 
The  producers  of  food,  or  in  other  words  the  farmers, 
have  not  increased  in  a  ratio  corresponding  to  that  of 
the  consumers,  or  the  other  classes  above  enumerated. 
The  professional  classes  in  our  country  have  increased 
in  a  greater  proportion  than  that  of  the  farmers,  and, 
taken  with  the  other  non-producers  but  consumers  of 
food,  no  other  results  than  what  we  witness  could  have 
been  anticipated.  A  large  proportion  of  the  sons  of 
farmers  have  chosen  other  kinds  of  business  or  profes- 
sions named  than  that  of  their  parents,  —  manufactures, 
commerce,  mechanics,  the  professions,  and,  in  too  many 
instances,  living  by  "hook  or  by  crook,"  have  been 
preferred  to  the  honorable  occupation  of  the  farmer ; 
and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  the  producers  find 
themselves  more  and  more  masters  of  the  field,  and 
able  to  fix  their  own  prices. 

Farmers  can  never  rely  on  themselves  for  support: 
they  may  from  their  farms  produce  what  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  eat,  drink,  and  wear  ;  but  for  many  of  the 
articles  that  the  conventional  codes  of  society  have 
rendered  necessary  to  appearance  and  comfort,  and  all 
the  principal  luxuries  of  life,  they  must  depend  on 
others ;  and  on  these  consumers  they  must  rely  for  the 
sale  of  their  surplus  produce.  It  is  the  real  interest  of 
the  farmer,  therefore,  to  be  satisfied  with  good  profits 
on  his  labor,  and  not,  by  charging  exorbitant  rates, 
10 


106  BURNT    CLAY. 

drive  so  great  a  proportion  of  the  other  classes  from 
their  pursuits,  and  compel  them  to  become  farmers,  as 
to  materially  change  the  ratio  now  existing  between 
producer  and  consumer.  Consumers  are  the  source  of 
prosperity  to  the  farmer  :  they  are  the  life  of  agricul- 
ture. In  the  demand  consequent  on  general  prosperity, 
agriculture  always  e5j:pands  and  flourishes :  without 
such  demand,  it  is,  and  must  be,  contracted,  its  opera- 
tions inactive,  and  its  returns  profitless.  Of  all  classes, 
farmers  are  the  most  truly  independent ;  but  perfect 
independence  is  a  truly  Utopian  dream.  Dependence 
is  a  primary  condition  or  element  of  society,  and  the 
last  could  not  exist  without  the  first.  The  dependence 
between  the  producer  and  consumer  is  mutual  so  far  as 
profit  is  concerned  ;  and  it  is  idle  for  the  latter  to  blame 
the  former  for  prices,  when  the  remedy,  that  alone  can 
correct  the  inequality  when  it  exists,  is  in  his  own 
hands  :  he,  too,  must  become  a  producer.  If  the  popu- 
lation engaged  in  commerce,  in  manufactures,  mechan- 
ics, or  the  professions,  could  not  live  without  the  farmer, 
we,  too,  should  remember  that  without  their  aid  our 
business  would  be  of  little  value  in  the  production  of 
wealth,  and  that  their  mouths  are  as  essential  an  item 
in  agricultural  prosperity,  as  fields  covered  with  crops, 
or  barns  bursting  with  plenty. —  Gtnesee  Farmer. 


BURNT  CLAY. 


The  English  have  been  much  in  the  habit  of  using 
burnt  clay  and  burnt  loam  on  their  lands.  We  hear 
but  little  about  any  experiment  of  the  kind  in  our 
country.  If  we  have  not  lime  in  abundance,  we  have 
loam,  and  we  have  wood  so  cheap  in  some  places  that 
the  expense  of  burning  would  be  small.  It  is  said  to 
operate  very  powerfully  when  mixed  in  a  loamy  soil, 
or  when  spread  on  grass-lands. 


LIME. 


LIME. 


lor 


It  will  be  perceived  by  our  readers  that  we  have 
been  backward  in  recommeiidiiig  the  use  of  lime  in 
agriculture.  It  is  a  part  of  our  system  to  recommend 
to  our  brother  farmers  nothing  but  what  we  are  fully 
satisfied  will  prove  useful.  We  have  often  expressed 
an  opinion  that  lime,  in  some  cases,  is  beneficial,  and 
that  one  of  those  cases  is  when  it  is  applied  to  a  soil 
tinctured  with  iron  ore.  Lime  Is  also  useful  to  break 
asunder  clayey,  tenacious  soils,  of  which  we  have  a 
very  small  portion  in  all  New  England  ;  and  here  the 
question  arises, —  will  not  sand  answer  the  same  purpose, 
and  at  a  much  cheaper  rate  ?  Lime,  too,  forms  a  com- 
ponent part  of  the  straw  and  of  the  grain  of  wheat ;  and, 
as  we  can  raise  this  grain  on  any  soil,  it  would  seem 
that  all  soils  contain  some  lime,  else  the  plant  must  draw 
the  whole  from  the  manure  ;  and,  to  supply  the  defi- 
ciency occasioned  by  this  draft,  it  would  seem  proper 
to  scatter  lime,  in  small  quantities,  on  all  lands  that 
produce  this  grain. 

Lime  is  found  also  to  be  beneficial  Avhen  mixed  with 
peat,  and  it  is  probably  owing  to  the  iron  ore,  or  some 
other  acid  contained  in  peat,  for  it  is  also  useful  for 
soils  filled  Avith  plants  of  an  acid  nature,  as  sorrel,  <fec. 
Q,uicklime  may  be  very  useful  when  applied  to  any 
heap  of  clay,  or  of  loam,  for  it  operates  like  fire  on 
those  articles  ;  and  burnt  clay,  as  well  as  burnt  loam, 
are  known  valuable  manures,  or  ingredients,  in  Euro- 
pean soils. 

These  are  all  cases  in  which  we  agree  that  lime 
may  aid  us  ;  but  this  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  us  in 
advising  farmers  to  purchase  lime  freely  to  improve 
their  soils.  The  cases  in  which  lime  aids  us  in  New 
England  are  only  exceptions  to  our  general  rules  of 
husbandry  ;  for  we  can  adduce  fifty  instances  of  loss 
from  the  use  of  lime,  where  one  can  be  shown  of  its 
beneficial  effects. 


108  LIME. 

We  are  daily  more  satisfied  with  these  conchisions 
as  we  converse  with  practical  men  on  the  subject. 
We  have  discussed  the  subject  this  winter  repeatedly 
at  our  agricultural  meetings  in  the  state-house,  where 
numerous  farmers  were  present,  and  the  testimony  of 
these  is  nearly  unanimous,  that  lime,  on  our  sandy 
loams,  is  not  in  general  useful ;  and  when  any  member 
has  attempted  to  prove  the  case  to  be  other  than  as 
above  stated,  he  has  admitted  that  he  used  lime  by 
casting  it  first  on  a  manure-heap ! 

At  our  public  meeting  in  the  state-house  on  Thurs- 
day evening,  the  7th  instant,  Mr.  Chase  Pease,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  house  from  Martha's  Vineyard,  gave  an 
account  of  a  piece  of  low,  interval  land,  on  which  he 
had  strewed  a  quantity  of  effete  lin}e.  He  said  it  had 
a  wonderful  ejffect ;  that  it  was  sown  on  without  any 
mixture  of  manure,  or  other  substance,  and  that,  instead 
of  a  very  poor  crop  of  sour  grass,  he  for  several  years 
after  the  application  of  the  lime  cut  a  large  swath  of 
excellent  sweet  grass  for  hay. 

Suspecting  at  once  the  reason  of  this  wonder- 
working power  in  lime,  we  asked  Mr.  P.  if  the  land 
was  not  full  of  iron  ore  ?  He  replied  that  it  was. 
That  you  could  see  the  ore  clearly  in  every  part  of  the 
lot,  and  particularly  where  little  puddles  of  water 
stood. 

We  think  from  these  premises  we  have  a  right  to 
conclude  that  in  general  we  cannot  become  richer  by 
purchasing  lime  for  our  sandy  loams  ;  that  the  in- 
stances proved  of  its  good  effects  were  such  only  as  we 
have  stated,  and  that  we  can  be  much  better  employed 
than  in  purchasing  lime  in  large  quantities  to  enrich  or 
correct  our  soil.  We  have  all  unlimited  means,  if  we 
will  use  them,  of  rendering  our  lands  fertile,  and  with- 
out purchasing  one  load  of  manure. 

We  have  only  to  fill  our  soils  with  vegetable  matter, 
and  especially  those  abounding  in  clay,  to  render  them 
mellow  and  pliable.      There   is   no   mistake   in  this 


ONE    EXTRA    HEN.  109 

matter ;  every  particle  of  vegetable  growth,  ploughed 
under  the  sod,  turns  to  the  very  right  kind  of  manure 
for  that  sod.  And  nothing  is  more  powerful  to  break 
in  pieces  a  hard  clayey  soil  than  a  good  quantity  of 
green  vegetable  growth,  ploughed  in  when  such  land 
is  suitable  for  the  plough. 

Lighter  soils  may  be  mixed  with  clay  ;  and  one  load 
of  sandy  loam  will  prove  as  beneficial  as  one  load  of 
slaked  lime,  so  far  as  that  lime  acts  mechanically,  and 
will  not  cost  you  one  tenth  as  much.  When  there  is 
in  the  soil  an  acid  that  needs  correction,  apply  lime  to 
neutralize  it,  but  do  not  depend  upon  lime  to  enrich 
your  soils. 


ONE  EXTRA  HEN. 


We  wish  to  inquire  of  our  subscribers  what  will  be 
the  expense  of  keeping  one  additional  hen  ;  for  we 
well  know  that  the  profits  of  a  single  fowl  will  pay  the 
whole  annual  expense  of  a  good  agricultural  newspaper  ! 

Now  if  we  can  possibly  contrive  to  give  to  our 
brethren  useful  hints  enough,  in  the  course  of  a  whole 
year,  to  enable  them  and  each  of  them  to  feed,  and 
support,  and  protect,  so  much  additional  stock  on  their 
premises,  they  could  not  feel  that  they  are  losing 
money  by  our  acquaintance. 

An  interesting  article  on  keeping  hens  has  been  the 
rounds  of  the  papers,  and  we  are  inchned  to  think  that 
great  improvement  may  be  made  on  the  common  mode 
of  keeping  this  useful  kind  of  stock.  We  know  they 
are  sometimes  troublesome  in  the  garden,  as  two-legged 
animals  often  are ;  and  we  doubt  whether  they  ever 
ought  to  run  at  large,  though  they  certainly  labor  ad- 
vantageously in  the  garden  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year,  and  help  us  to  destroy  enemies  that  the  useful 
toad  seems  to  overlook. 
10* 


110  ROOTS. 

We  hope  a  few  more  friends  of  the  hen  will  try  ex- 
periments on  shutting  the  animal  up  and  letting  her 
have  abundance  of  food,  and  of  gravel,  and  lime,  that 
they  may  be  able  to  report  the  net  profits  of  the 
process. 

As  to  other  two-footed  animals,  there  may  be  some 
doubt  about  the  propriety  of  putting  them  in  fetters 
before  they  have  committed  any  crime,  lest  they  might 
enter  into  temptation  ;  but  hens  have  not  wit  enough 
to  resist  or  to  evade  your  barricades,  though  not 
erected  more  than  four  feet  high,  provided  pickets  are 
ranged  on  the  top  to  make  it  an  uneasy  place  for  them 
to  rest  on ;  for  fowls  never  fly  over  a  fence  without 
an  attempt  to  rest  on  it,  unless  they  are  excessively 
frightened. 


ROOT&. 

The  importance  of  raising  roots  to  be  used  as  food 
for  cattle,  horses,  and  swine,  during  our  long  winters, 
cannot  be  too  often  nor  too  strongly  impressed  upon 
the  farmers  of  Maine,  at  least  until  more  of  them  enter 
somewhat  more  largely  into  the  business  than  they  do 
at  present. 

Potatoes  are  planted  by  every  one  as  a  matter  of 
course.  Next  to  potatoes,  perhaps  the  ruta  baga  crop 
commands  the  most  attention.  The  sugar-beet  is  next 
in  order,  though  of  but  recent  introduction.  Mangel- 
wurtzels  have  not  generally  found  so  much  favor  with 
the  farmers  of  Maine  as  they  ought  to  ;  nor  has  the 
carrot ;  bnt  the  most  neglected  of  all  is  the  parsnip. 
We  do  not  recollect  ever  having  seen  a  field  of 
parsnips  growing  in  Maine,  and  yet  we  verily  believe 
that,  all  things  considered,  they  are  the  most  profita- 
ble of  either  as  an  article  of  food  for  stock  and  swine. 
We  have  heretofore  tried  some  experiments  on  a  limit- 


HOOTS.  Ill 

ed  scale  with  them,  and,  Providence  permitting,  we 
shall  go  more  extensively  into  it  another  season.  They 
require  a  little  more  care  when  they  first  come  up,  and 
are  smaller  than  rata  baga,  but  are  not  so  difficult  as 
the  carrot.  They  seem  to  be  more  nourishing  than 
any  other  root,  and  chemical  analysis  warrants  this 
idea.  They  will  keep  in  the  ground  during  the 
winter,  but  must  be  dug  before  they  vegetate  much  in 
the  spring.  They  will  not  keep  so  well  in  the  summer 
as  the  ruta  baga.  The  farmers  in  the  Island  of  Jersey, 
near  England,  are  said  to  make  their  main  dependence 
upon  this  root,  and  their  cattle  and  swine  are  thereby 
rendered  very  profitable.  The  only  objection  that  we 
know  of  to  the  carrot  is  the  trouble  it  gives  in  weeding 
when  it  first  comes  up.  Its  small  leaves  so  much  re- 
semble some  of  the  weeds,  that,  if  the  ground  is  very 
foul,  it  requires  careful  management  to  avoid  hoeing  it 
up  with  them.  We  have  seen  the  good  effects  of  these 
upon  a  horse  to  which  they  were  given  during  the 
winter  season.  They  certainly  are  preferable  to  oats, 
or,  at  any  rate,  were  for  that  horse.  The  animal  was  a 
very  fleet  one,  and  belonged  to  a  neighboring  physician 
who  had  a  great  deal  for  him  to  do  ;  and  yet  he  kept 
in  perfect  condition  with  no  other  food  than  good  hay, 
and  from  a  peck  to  a  half  bushel  of  carrots  per  day. 

The  mangel-wurtzel  will  yield,  when  put  in  a  favor- 
able situation,  as  much  per  acre,  perhaps,  as  any  other 
root.  John  Hare  Powell  once  raised  sixteen  hundred 
and  thirty-four  bushels  to  the  acre  and  fourteen  rods  ; 
and  Messrs.  H.  &  T.  Little,  of  Newbury,  raised 
thirty-three  tons,  ten  hundred  and  fourteen  pounds  to 
the  acre.  But  English  writers  have  told  us  of  sixty 
tons  to  the  acre.  We  believe  that  it  requires  a  richer 
soil  than  ruta  baga,  and  more  of  a  clayey  loam.  Hogs 
are  very  fond  of  them.  We  saw  Mr.  Hains,  of  Hal- 
lowell,  feeding  his  swine  with  them  last  fall,  raw;  and 
the  manner  in  which  they  took  hold  of  them,  and  the 
good   condition    which  they  exhibited,  convinced    us 


112  LIVE    HEDGES. 

that  they  were  very  profitable  and  nutricious  to  them. 
See  his  communication  in  the  last  number  of  the  Maine 
Farmer.  The  more  we  see  and  learn  of  the  value  of 
the  several  root  crops  in  Maine,  the  more  convinced  are 
we  that  it  is  the  true  pohcy  of  our  farmers  to  cultivate 
them  extensively  ;  and  we  hope  that  many  who  never 
have  yet  paid  particular  attention  to  this  business,  will 
begin  this  year.  Manure  high,  and  plant  close,  and 
we  will  insure  you  a  good  and  a  profitable  crop.  — 
Maine  Farmer. 


LIVE  HEDGES. 


We  some  time  since  received  a  letter  from  a  gentle- 
man in  or  near  Portland,  inquiring  of  us  for  the  best 
material  for  a  hedge.  He  wished  for  the  best  kind 
of  thorn,  and  wanted  we  should  direct  him  where  to 
procure  it,  if  we  approved  of  that  kind  of  fence. 

We  think  thorns  are  not  the  article  for  a  Yankee 
fence.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  difficult  to  make  them 
grow  in  our  dry  climate ;  then  it  is  too  much  labor  to 
keep  them  well  trimmed ;  thirdly,  the  cuttings  repay 
you  no  part  of  the  expense  :  that  operation  is  worse 
than  shaving  a  pig  for  his  wool. 

When  rocks  are  plenty,  they  are  decidedly  the  best 
fence  ;  and  when  they  are  near  the  line  of  your  fence, 
the  first  cost  of  building  is  less  than  that  of  a  wooden 
fence. 

In  the  absence  of  rocks,  we  can  make  a  better  fence 
than  thorns  will  make.  Chestnut  or  cedar  rails  will 
last  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  years  in  a  fence.  We 
know  a  farmer,  Col.  Edgell,  of  Framingham,  who  has 
rails  in  his  fences  more  than  seventy-five  years  old. 
The  great  trouble  with  us  is  to  procure  ^05/s  that  will 
last  a  tenth  part  as  long  in  our  dry  loams.  These  will 
sometimes  become  so  rotten  as  to  break  down  at  the 


LIVE    HEDGES. 


113 


ground  in  three  or  four  years.  In  clay,  or  in  a  moist 
loam,  they  sometimes  last  twelve  years ;  and  in  a 
meadow  they  will  last  as  long  as  the  rail,  and  the  part 
that  is  entirely  under  ground  much  longer. 

Now,  as  the  expense  of  rails  that  last  so  long  is  tri- 
fling, let  us  have  some  permanent  posts  for  our  high 
lands.  Let  us  plant  an  apple-tree  every  twelve  feet  on 
the  line  of  the  fence.  Let  there  be  one  or  two  sprouts 
growing  from  the  ground,  or  procure  crotched  trees 
from  the  nursery,  that  will  support  three  rails :  this 
may  be  very  easily  done,  and  within  three  years  from 
the  setting,  they  will  be  so  strong  that  you  may  inter- 
weave the  rails  among  these  sprouts  and  branches  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  support  them  firmly. 

By  placing  your  trees  twelve  feet  apart,  the  roots 
have  room  to  grow :  not  so  when  you  place  thorn  or 
other  shi'ubs  within  two  feet  of  each  other.  .  But  your 
apple-trees  will  in  a  short  time  make  good  posts  that 
will  last  as  long  as  the  rails ;  and,  when  you  trim,  you 
get  something  to  pay  you  for  trimming.  When  you 
do  not  trim,  you  get  something,  too,  besides  a  post  for 
your  fence  ;  for  you  may  have  as  good  fruit  here  as  in 
your  garden,  if  you  will  turn  over  a  furrow  or  two 
every  three  years  near  the  row  of  trees. 

The  apples  from  the  trees  will  not  hurt  your  cattle 
on  either  side  of  the  fence  ;  but  if  you  wish  to  secure 
all  the  fruit  to  yourself,  ingraft  the  trees  with  winter 
fruit,  and  pick  it  in  September.  If  you  ever  become 
tired  of  this  kind  of  fence,  which  cannot  cost  you 
much  money,  the  wood  of  the  trees  will  pay  you  for 
cutting  ;  but  you  would  better  let  them  stand,  and  you 
may  place  posts  in  such  a  position  that  they  will  be 
supported  by  the  trees.  Such  posts  will  stand  much 
longer  than  posts  unsupported. 

Natural  hedges  of  oak,  maple,  birch,  &c.  are  a  very 
cheap  fence,  and  easily  kept  in  repair :  they  are  too 
much  in  the  way  for  cross-fences,  but  when  their  line 
is  beside  a  wood-lot,  by  lopping  down  some  of  the 


114 


FIR    BALSAM. 


Standards  on  this  line  early  in  spring,  they  will  con- 
tinue to  grow  in  this  horizontal  position,  and  make  you 
a  most  durable  fence. 

People  are  apt  to  lop  these  standards  at  a  wrong 
time  of  year,  and  they  lop  them  too  high.  If  the 
standard  is  four  inches  in  diameter,  it  should  be  cut 
within  one  foot  of  the  ground,  and  then  upwards,  so 
that  the  whole  cutting  may  extend  one  foot  in  length  : 
cut  the  standard  thus  half  off,  and  bend  it  dov/n  in  an 
opposite  direction  from  the  cutting,  carefully,  so  that  it 
may  resemble  an  ox-bow  half  bent :  then  it  will  grow, 
and  make  you  a  living  fence. 


FIR  BALSAM. 

The  fir  is  not  only  a  fine  ornamental  tree  about  our 
dwelUngs  and  by  the  road-side,  but  its  gum,  or  balsam, 
is  exceedingly  useful  when  applied  to  fresh  wounds 
caused  by  bruises  or  cuts.  It  is  readily  gathered  from 
the  tree  at  all  times  in  the  year,  by  simply  making  a 
puncture  in  the  body  wherever  you  find  a  little  blister- 
ing under  the  bark.  These  blisters  are  numerous,  and 
are  of  the  size  of  a  large  drop  of  water:  take  a  sharp 
penknife  and  tap  them,  and  you  may  readily  press  out 
the  balsam  into  a  cup,  or  spoon,  and  it  is  fit  for  use. 
Apply  this  to  the  wound,  and  bind  on  a  rag :  you  will 
learn  its  virtues  in  your  relief  from  pain,  and  by  the 
speedy  healing  of  your  wound. 

Trees  of  this  kind,  planted  out  about  our  dwellings, 
should  never  stand  so  as  to  keep  the  sun  from  the 
house  in  winter.  We  then  want  the  whole  force  of 
his  rays  to  assist  in  warming  our  sitting  parlor  at  the 
south  or  southeast  corner  of  the  house.  These  trees, 
bearing  their  leaves  through  the  winter,  are  a  nuisance 
when  placed  between  us  and  the  sun.  Their  place  is 
at  the  north  and  west  side  of  our  houses,  where,  if  we 


AGRICULTURE.  115 

place  them  properly,  they  afford  us  great  protection 
against  the  rude  blasts  from  these  points  of  the  com- 
pass. How  easily  all  this  is  accomplished !  and  yet 
how  few  have  a  single  evergreen  nearer  their  houses 
than  the  forests ! 

When  we  ride  or  walk,  in  cold  weather,  on  the 
southern  side  of  a  natural  evergreen  wood-lot,  how 
balmy  the  air,  and  hov/  agreeable  the  scene,  compared 
with  that  of  a  northern  exposure  ! 

Dwelling-houses,  in  our  chill  climate,  should  ever  be 
placed  in  such  position  that  they  may  be  easily  pro- 
tected from  the  cold  blasts  of  winter;  but  nothing 
should  obstruct  the  free  passage  of  the  southwest,  or 
summer  breezes ;  and  the  barns,  and  yards,  and  hog- 
stye  should  never  be  built  on  the  southv/est  or  west 
side  of  the  dwelling-house. 


ASPARAGUS. 


He  who  has  a  good  bed  of  asparagus  has  his  peas 
ready  sown,  and  may  pluck  an  earlier  mess  than  he 
who  sows  in  spring. 

This  plant  is  the  best  substitute  for  green  peas, 
which  it  much  resembles  in  taste,  and  great  quantities 
are  easily  raised  at  small  expense.  As  soon  as  the  frost 
is  out,  some  of  our  richest  manure  should  be  hoed  in 
upon  the  beds,  chopping  all  the  ground  over  two  or 
three  inches  deep.  Then  the  soil  may  be  stirred  every 
day  or  two  to  keep  the  weeds  down  until  the  plant 
comes  up  ;  for  you  cannot  well  hoe  it  afterwards  :  if 
your  manure  was  laid  on  the  beds  last  fall,  your  aspar- 
agus will  be  the  earlier  this  spring.  When  you  crop 
the  tops,  cut  down  even  with  the  surface  of  the  soil, 
or  lower  ;  for  you  want  nothing  but  a  tender  stalk  to 
boil. 


116  SILK. 


SILK. 


Our  readers  will  observe  we  have  yet  said  IduI  little 
on  the  subject  of  silk,  or  of  the  mulberry.  We  think  it 
best  not  to  hurry  too  fast  into  this  branch  of  business 
before  our  country  can  supply  itself  with  bread  and 
potatoes,  with  milk  and  butter,  with  hay  and  beef. 

The  silk  business  must  be  gradually  introduced  : 
trees  or  shrubs  must  be  reared  before  we  can  feed  the 
worms,  and  people  who  are  acquainted  with  the  busi- 
ness of  setting  trees,  and  with  the  soils  most  suitable 
for  them,  must  be  employed  in  the  business.  We  have 
already  seen  too  much  capital  sunk  in  attempting  to 
introdoce  this  business  on  a  large  scale  by  persons  and 
corporations,  who  have  not  skill  enough  to  set  out  an 
apple-tree  or  a  currant-bush  ;  and  what  else  can  we 
expect  but  failure  from  such  efforts  ? 

In  our  humble  opinion,  the  introduction  of  the  Morus 
Multicaulis  has  been  injurious  in  the  Northern  States. 
Since  the  wonderful  accounts  published  concerning 
that  species,  most  of  the  Avhite  mulberry-trees  have 
been  abandoned  as  useless.  But  it  now  appears,  from 
a  statement  made  by  a  silk  grower,  in  Hampshire 
county,  that  the  white  mulberry  leaf  is  much  to  be 
preferred  for  feeding  to  the  Morus  Multicaulis  ;  and 
especially  in  the  last  stages  of  feeding,  that  these 
leaves  were  not  so  watery,  and  contained  more  nutri- 
ment than  the  large  leaf. 

One  standing  argument  in  favor  of  the  large  leaf  is 
the  ease  and  rapidity  with  which  it  is  gathered  from 
the  bush.  Now  these  leaves  should  never  be  stripped 
from  the  twigs:  the  small  twigs  should  be  cut  off,  and 
new  shoots  will  start  out  immediately,  and  these  may 
be  cut  off  the  same  season.  These  twigs  are  laid  on 
the  worm-shelf;  and  the  worms  seem  much  pleased 
with  the  task  of  climbing  on  to  them  for  their  food  out 
of  their  nest  below. 


TALL    MEADOW    OAT-GRASS.  117 

Within  a  few  years,  a  company  purchased  a  very 
valuable  farm  within  thirty  miles  of  Boston,  with  a 
view  of  raising  the  mulberry,  and  of  growing  silk. 
The  land  was  a  heavy  loam,  and  excellent  for  grass, 
but  wholly  unfit  for  the  mulberry.  Several  thousands 
of  the  mulberry  were  imported  from  France,  and  men 
were  hired  to  set  them  out,  and  were  required  to  set 
1000  each  for  a  day's  work  !  The  consequence  was, 
that  nineteen  out  of  twenty  died,  and  five  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  trees  were  sacrificed  for  want  of  skill 
in  selecting  the  land  and  in  setting  the  trees.  More 
than  one  thousand  dollars  were  also  sacrificed  on  the 
sale  of  the  farm. 

Now,  brother  farmers,  if  a  company  of  you,  who  are 
not  acquainted  with  trade,  should  go  into  a  city,  hire  a 
store,  and  set  up  on  a  large  scale,  we  will  be  bound  — 
not  to  pay  your  debts  —  but  that  you  will  fail  in  your 
speculation,  as  surely  as  this  silk  company  did,  — fail 
as  the  man  did  who  set  up  to  live  by  his  wit.  He 
failed  for  want  of  stock. 

We  should  not  think  of  plunging  headlong  into  the 
silk  business,  or  into  any  other  business,  without  some 
experience.  The  white  mulberry  is  easily  cultivated: 
there  is  no  difiiculty  in  it  more  than  in  cultivating  the 
apple-tree  ;  and  we  strongly  suspect  that  this  kind  is 
valuable  as  any.  It  may  be  sown  in  hedge-rows  ;  or, 
what  is  better,  planted  in  hills  not  less  than  six  feet 
apart :  then  the  roots  have  some  chance  to  extend,  and 
the  leaves  will  be  thrifty  and  large  enough,  provided 
we  cultivate  the  ground.  In  a  few  years,  by  lopping 
the  side  branches  from  these  hills,  we  make  a  complete 
fence  for  cattle. 


TALL  MEADOW  OAT-GRASS. 

This  grass  has  good   qualities,  and  may  sometimes 
supersede  some  kinds  now  more  common.     It  starts 
11 


118  WASHING    TREES. 

much  earlier  than  the  herds-grass,  (timothy,)  grows 
taller  than  that  in  very  rich  ground,  and  is  ready  for 
the  scythe,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston,  by  the 
middle  of  June.  Unlike  the  herds-grass,  it  yields  a 
good  after-crop  for  cattle,  and  retains  its  hold  in  a  dry 
soil  for  a  long  time. 

The  objections  to  its  cultivation  are,  1st,  the  ex- 
pense of  the  seed,  four  or  five  bushels  being  necessary 
for  an  acre ;  2d,  its  early  maturity,  before  we  are 
ready  to  take  the  scythe.  It  may  also  be  objected  to 
as  a  kind  not  generally  known  in  the  market  ;  and, 
though  it  may  be  a  better  kind  than  any  before  exhib- 
ited, the  marketer  would  not  meet  with  so  ready  a 
sale  as  he  would  of  a  kind  better  known. 

The  introducer  of  new  articles  always  labors  under 
the  disadvantage  of  proving  their  utility.  This  is  one 
cause  of  the  slow  progress  of  improvement  in  agricul- 
tural productions. 

This  grass  is  fit  for  cutting  at  the  same  time  with 
the  southern  clover,  and  should  be  sown  with  it.  I  ■ 
these  two  grasses  ripened  only  one  week  sooner  than 
the  herds-grass  and  the  northern  clover,  it  would  be 
rather  a  convenience  to  the  hay-maker,  as  hi?  labors 
would  not  be  so  much  crowded. 


WASHING    TREES. 


Lie  from  wood-ashes,  or  from  potash,  makes  the  best 
wash  for  trees.  It  should  not  be  applied  until  May  or 
June,  when  it  will  kill  the  moss  and  all  the  insects 
that  adhere  to  the  bark.  There  is  a  small  animal  re- 
sembling a  louse  to  be  found  on  most  young  trees. 
They  never  appear  to  move  excepting  in  the  month  of 
June,  and  then  they  are  not  great  travellers.  The  lie 
above  named,  if  put  on  in  June,  effectually  clears  the 
tree  of  this  insect. 


BONE    MANURE.  119 


BONE  MANURE. 


Agreeably  to  our  promise,  we  now  proceed  to  lay 
before  the  readers  of  the  Cuhivator  the  results  of  our 
reading,  coupled  with  our  experience,  in  regard  to  bone 
manure. 

The  bones  of  domestic  animals  are  found  to  contain 
about  equal  portions  of  phosphate  of  lime  and  gelatine  ; 
those  of  young  animals  containing  more  of  the  latter, 
and  the  bones  of  old  animals  more  of  the  former. 
The  gelatine  is  highly  nutritive  to  plants,  and  phos- 
phate of  lime  enters  largely  into  the  structure  of  many 
species.  To  bring  on  a  decomposition  of  bones,  and 
render  their  fertilizing  properties  available  to  the  wants 
of  growing  crops,  it  is  necessary  to  crush  or  grind 
them  ;  and  their  immediate  benefit  is  in  proportion  to 
their  fineness  and  rapid  decomposition  in  the  soil, 
though  ultimately  they  impart  to  the  soil  all  their  fer- 
tilizing properties  if  they  are  broken  to  the  size  of  one, 
two,  or  three  inches.  In  powder  or  dust  their  effect  is 
at  first  more  powerful,  but  less  abiding.  So,  too,  the 
like  happens  if  the  bones  are  brought  into  a  state  of 
partial  fermentation,  so  as  to  give  off  a  strong  odor 
by  mixing  them  with  lime  or  ashes,  or  manure  and 
moisture,  before  they  are  applied  to  the  soil,  and  there- 
by hastening  decomposition  ;  and,  indeed,  this  is  the 
common  practice,  when  it  is  desired  to  have  them  pro- 
duce an  immediate  effect.  To  reduce  bones  to  a 
proper  size  for  agricultural  purposes,  bone-mills  have 
been  erected,  consisting  of  a  series  of  cast-iron  rollers, 
formed  with  deeply  indented  rims,  and  teeth  progres- 
sively more  closely  fixed.  Many  British  farmers  have 
erected  small  machines,  with  two  cylinders  of  cast- 
iron,  with  teeth,  which  lock  into  each  other,  by  which 
they  are  broken  into  small  pieces.  We  have  had  more 
than  sixty  horse  cart-loads  of  bones,  which  cost  us 
half  a  dollar  a  load,  crushed  in  a  plaster-mill,  though 


120  SUNFLOWER    OIL. 

not  made  very  fine,  for  which  we  paid  12^  cents  per 
bushel  as  toll.  The  value  of  bone  dust  as  a  manure,  in 
Great  Britain,  may  be  judged  of  from  the  following 
rates  of  prices,  which  we  quote  from  one  of  the  most 
recent  agricultural  publications:  —  ''The  price  com- 
monly averages,  for  the  dust,  from  2s.  6d.  to  3s.  and  in 
some  late  instances  even  3s.  6d.  have  been  paid  for 
pieces  of  [inch,  three  quarter  inch  and  half  inch]  from 
2s.  to  3s.  6d.  according  to  size  ;  and  Is.  lOd.  for  rough 
bones  per  imperial  bushel.''  —  Br.  Hush.  The  reader 
will  bear  in  mind  that  the  English  shilling  is  a  frac- 
tion over  22  cents.  Prices  have  not  attained  this 
high  pitch  with  us.  The  English  dealers  make  no 
allowance  on  bones  which  have  gone  through  th-e  pro- 
cess of  boiling,  though  this  process  evidently  deprives 
them  of  a  portion  of  their  oil,  and  consequently  di- 
minishes, in  a  measure,  their  enriching  properties.  — 
Albany  Cultivator. 


SUNFLOWER   OIL. 


Few  individuals  of  the  country  are  aware  of  the 
quantities  of  olive  and  almond  oils,  usually  called 
sweet  oils,  imported  annually  into  this  country  from 
abroad  ;  and  the  number  is  perhaps  still  less  who  know 
that  in  the  oil  of  the  common  sunflower  seed  is  found 
a  substitute  equal  in  every  respect  to  the  oils  of  France 
and  Italy.  Like  all  plants  of  such  large  and  rapid 
growth  that  mature  their  seeds  the  first  year,  the  sun- 
flower exhausts  soils  rapidly  ;  but  where  its  cultivation 
has  been  attempted,  it  has  paid  large  profits.  The  oil 
is  extracted  as  from  linseed,  and  the  cake  or  residuum 
is,  like  that,  excellent  for  feeding  cattle.  The  follow- 
ing extract  is  from  a  letter  of  J.  Smith,  Esq.  of  Mary- 
land, to  H.  E.  Ellsworth,  of  Washington  city  : 

"  I  planted  about  an  acre  of  ground  a  few  years  since- 


AGRICULTURE.  121 

with  sunflower,  and  obtained  sufficient  seed  for  nearly 
a  barrel  of  oil.  The  oil  was  extracted  by  Mr.  Barnett. 
We  made  use  of  it  for  the  table,  and  found  it  kept 
well,  and  was  esteemed  equal  to  the  best  imported 
sweet  oil  for  every  domestic  purpose.  I  have  a  little 
of  this  making  (1833)  yet  remaining,  and  will  send 
you  a  bottle  by  the  first  opportunity.  I  found  the  sub- 
stance of  the  sunflower  too  exhausting  for  the  light 
soil  we  have  on  our  hills  in  this  neighborhood,  (Mary- 
land,) but  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  found  profitable  in 
other  sections  of  our  country,  and  particularly  in  the 
rich  prairies  of  the  west." 

We  should  be  pleased  to  learn  that  some  enterprising 
farmer  had  commenced  experimenting  on  this  plant. 
Its  yield  of  seed  is  abundant  in  this  region,  and  could 
scarcely  fail,  where  the  means  of  converting  it  into  oil 
are  at  hand,  of  yielding  a  handsome  profit. — Maine 
Temperance  Gazette. 


AGRICULTURE. 


Science  has  within  a  few  years  done  much  in  aid  of 
agriculture  ;  not  that  many  positive  discoveries  have  in 
the  first  place  been  made  by  the  sciences,  of  which  the 
agriculturalist  has  availed  himself;  but  the  cause  of 
certain  results  before  known  to  the  farmer  have  been 
revealed  by  chemical,  or  other  researches,  and  thus  the 
means  of  more  certainty  and  in  many  more  cases  of 
producing  the  same  results  has  been  obtained.  On  this 
is  based  the  improved  system  of  agriculture.  Where 
the  earths  are  not  in  due  proportion,  it  is  impossible  to 
make  or  keep  the  soil  in  a  productive  state.  The 
nature  of  the  earths  is  now  inquired  into,  and  their 
balance  maintained  by  a  rotation  of  crops,  or  by  other 
means. —  Genesee  Farmer. 
11* 


123  EXHAUSTION    OF     SOILS, 


EXHAUSTION  OF  SOILS. 


Is  it  viot  worth  the  while  for  our  farmers  to  inquire, 
very  particularly,  what  crops  are  most  exhausting  ?  In 
some  of  the  new  soils  of  the  west,  hemp,  flax,,  wheats 
potatoes,  may  be  cultivated  for  years  without  any  sen- 
sible deterioration  ;  but  we  have  a  soil  to  be  managed 
which  has  already  had  its  turn  of  bearing  these  ex- 
hausting crops,  until  a  great  portion  of  it  scarcely  bears 
enough  to  pay  the  fencing  and  the  taxes. 

What  is  the  cause  that  so  much  of  our  plain  and 
easily-tilled  lands  is  reduced  so  low  ?  We  have  cropped 
and  cropped,  without  manuring,  until  we  get  no  pay 
for  cropping.  And  the  farmers  of  Maryland,  Virginia, 
and  Delaware,  have  done  the  same  thing.  We  have 
lately  seen  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Virginia  to 
Judge  Buel,  inquiring  what  he  would  best  do  with  his 
490  acres  of  land,  and  but  very  few  hands  to  cultivate 
it.  The  gentleman  states  that  his  crop  of  corn  averages 
from  one  to  seven  barrels  to  ihe  acre.  Another,  an  ag- 
ricultural writer  of  Virginia,  stated,  last  season,  that 
Virginia  planters  usually  planted  their  plains  till  they 
^vould  produce  only  Uom  jive  to  ten  bushels  to  the  acre; 
and:  then  they  suflfered  them  to  lie  and  recruit. 

Our  plains,  too,  have  been  run  ;  and  now,  in  the 
sportsman's  phrase,  ''we  must  try  back."  Our  hilly, 
and  rocky,  and  rough  lands  are  often  observed  to  pos- 
sess a  strong  soil  still;  and  the  reason  is  obvious.  We 
doubt  whether  these  rough  lands  were  made  better  by 
iia-ture  than  our  smooth  lands  were  ;  for,  on  clearing  up 
a  nev/  field  of  plain  land.,  we  obtain  as  large  crops,  at 
first,  as  wc  do  on  the  hills  and  among  the  rocks. 

It  was  a  fashion,  in  former  days,  to  reap  fields  annu- 
ally, and  take  off  a  white  crop,  without  applying  any 
manure  ;  and  we  too  plainly  see  the  consequences : 
these  fields  are  now  barren,  while  our  rough,  and 
rocky,  and  hilly  lands,  which  have  borne  nothing  but- 


EXHAUSTION    OF    SOILS.  123 

grass  or  wood  for  a  couple  of  centuries,  are  not  impov- 
erished. 

It  is  certain  that  some  plants  take  more  of  the  geine^ 
the  sugar,  the  pabulum,  or  food,  from  the  soil  than 
other  plants  do ;  and  if  we  can  acciu'ately  ascertain 
the  degrees  of  exhaustion,  and  the  comparative  value 
of  the  crops  taken  off,  we  can  determine  with  more 
certainty  which  are  most  profitable. 

The  various  species  of  pine,  and  particularly  the 
white  pine,  will  flourish  and  grow  as  fast  on  a  sandy 
plain,  that  will  produce  nothing  else,  as  it  will  on  a 
rich  soil.  We  may  not  know  the  reason  of  all  this, 
but  it  is  of  some  importance  to  ascertain  the  fact.  For, 
if  one  of  our  most  stately  and  valuable  forest-trees  soars 
aloft  without  apparent  aid  from  a  hungry  soil,  and  gets 
but  little  nourishment  excepting  through  its  leaf,  other 
plants  may  do  the  same  ;  and,  by  making  proper  in- 
quiry, we  may  arrive  at  very  important  results. 

One  of  the  positions  which  we  have  endeavored  to 
maintain  in  our  paper  is,  that  potatoes  of  all  kinds  are 
an  exhausting  crop  —  the  Solanum  tuberosum  —  the 
poisonous  plant ;  more  so  than  Indian  corn.  We  are 
quite  aware  that  the  position  is  new;  but,  as  truth  is 
our  object,  we  shall  insist  on  the  correctness  of  this 
position,  which  we  are  forced  to  take  after  long  experi- 
ence on  the  subject,  until  we  are  satisfied,  from  facts 
and  from  experiments,  of  our  error. 

We  well  know  the  common  notion  is,  that  potatoes 
enrich  the  soil.  If  this  were  so,  our  New  IJngland 
would  now  be  the  richest  country  in  the  world  ;  for 
no  people  have  raised  more  potatoes.  We  have  not 
eat  so  many  for  the  last  fifty  years  as  the  Irish  have 
done,  for  Vv^e  have  had'  other  food  to  eat  with  them  ; 
but  we  have  cultivated  them  not  only  for  the  parlor 
and  the  kitchen,  but  for  the  hen,  the  pig,  the  milch 
cow,  the  fatting  ox,  and  last,  but  not  least  —  horrihile 
dictu — we  have  cultivated  large  fields  of  them  for  the 
mere  purpose  of  procuring  a  vegetable  exti^act,  so  poi- 


124  POTATOES; 

sonous  that  some  who  have  partaken  of  it  are  supposed 
not  to  have  lived  out  half  the  days  allotted  them  by 
Providence. 

The  English:  are  not  now  so  fond  of  the  potato  cul- 
ture as  formerly,  and  they  are  turning  their  attention 
to  other  roots.  The  carrot  and  the  parsnip  culture  are 
not  new  to  them  ;  but  the  ruta  baga,  and  the  sugar- 
beet,  and  the  mangel- wurtzel,  introduce  a  new  era  into 
their  system.  They  have  learned  that  the  various 
species  of  turnip  exhaust  less  than  the  potato.  Indeed, 
we  have  understood  that  this  last  cannot  be  raised  in 
some  districts  in  England  where  formerly  it  was  the 
most  popular  crop.  The  rust  of  the  vines  on  fields 
long  planted  with  them  has  proved  very  injurious. 
And  even  on  the  strong,  clayey  soils  of  the  Kennebec, 
where  excellent  potatoes  are  usually  grown,  they  are 
very  hable  to  rust  when  planted  on  the  same  field  two 
years  in  succession. 

From  our  own  experience,  we  are  satisfied  that,  on 
sandy  loams  at  least,  potatoes  are  more  exhausting  than 
Indian  corn,  and  that  better  crops  of  grass  are  obtained 
after  corn,  with  the  same  manuring,  than  after  potatoes. 

We  wish  to  have  a  greater  number  of  our  readers 
make  trial,  or  examine  their  fields  more  closely.  If 
we  are  in  an  error,  the  sooner  we  correct  our  error  the 
better.  We  need  no  chemical  apparatus  for  this  pur- 
pose :  we  have  only  to  watch  closely  the  succeeding 
crops. 


POTATOES. 


Many  kinds  of  early  potatoes  produce  but  a  small 
quantity,  scarcely  enough  to  pay  the  labor  of  raising. 
The  chenango  is  a  good  potato,  and  will  yield  a  good 
supply  of  early  ones  fit  for  any  table. 


FARM-BUILDINGS.  125 


FARM-BUILDINGS. 

Those  who  are  planning  new  buildings  for  agricul- 
tural purposes  will  do  well  to  consider  the  subject  in 
all  its  bearings ;  the  first  outlay,  the  comfort  of  their 
cattle,  the  capacity  of  the  buildings,  the  facilities  for 
filling  them,  and  the  conveniences  for  feeding  out  ta 
the  stock. 

The  first  outlay  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  size 
of  the  farm,  and  the  probable  amount  of  its  productions  ; 
but,  let  its  size  be  great  or  small,  never  fail  to  have  a 
cellar  under  the  whole.  If  possible,  set  your  barn  on 
a  side  hill.  If  none  is  near  you,  make  one,  so  that 
you  may  drive  in  a  loaded  cart  many  feet  higher  than 
the  bottom  of  your  bay.  This  will  enable  you  to 
unload  your  hay  with  half  the  labor  which  is  often- 
employed  for  the  purpose,  and  allow  you  to  keep  most 
of  your  hands  in  the  field,  Avhile  one  only  drives  up  to 
the  barn  and  unloads,  in  that  most  important  portion 
of  the  day,  —  from  1  to  5  P.  M.  One  hour's  labor  at 
this  time  of  day  is  often  worth  a  dollar,  when  a  shower 
is  coming  :  it  is  therefore  vv^orth  your  while  so  to  con- 
trive your  barns  as  to  save  many  of  these  hours.  Fur- 
ther, by  having  a  large  bay  below  your  barn-fioors,  and 
no  one  to  beat  down  the  hay  when  pitched  off",  you 
may  cart  it  in  at  least  one  hour  sooner  than  you  can 
when  you  are  obliged  to  stow  it  close.  This  is  often 
of  great  importance  ;  and,  if  you  have  not  saved  a 
sprinkling  by  it,  you  have  probably  saved  the  labor  of 
another  opening  of  the  hay  to  the  sun. 

The  second  point  is  the  comfort  of  your  cattle.  By 
comfort,  we  do  not  mean  lying  all  night  and  half  the 
day-time  on  a  plank  floor,  in  a  barn  so  tight  as  to  suifo- 
cate  them.  Cattle  need  fresh  air  for  breathing  ;  but, 
if  you  match  the  boards  tight  on  your  barn,  you  are 
obliged  to  keep  the  doors  or  windows  open  on  them  ; 
and  this  partial  exposure  is  much  more  injurious  to. 


126 


FARM-BUILDINGS. 


them  than  full  exposure,  or  lying  under  an  open 
shed. 

If  you  would  suffer  your  cattle  to  choose  for  them- 
selves, you  would  find  them,  nine  times  in  ten,  prefer- 
ring an  open  shed  to  a  close  barn.  Cattle  should.be 
protected  from  the  ivinds  and  from  the  ivet :  they  are 
not  in  fear  of  cold  weather;  and,  if  your  barn  faces 
south  or  east,  you  need  not  board  up  the  south  side 
below  the  floor,  but  let  your  cattle  lie  loose  under  that 
part  of  the  barn  where  there  is  no  hay.  If  you  have 
two  barns,  these  will  protect  the  cattle  from  the  north 
and  the  west  winds.  If  you  have  but  one,  a  slight 
shed  may  be  built,  of  the  length  of  your  cow-yard,  as 
a  protection  and  shelter.  When  building,  the  cost  of 
a  cellar  that  shall  be  Availed  up  on  two  sides  will  be 
but  trifling  to  a  farmer  who  hires  by  the  month,  and 
has  rocks  and  a  team  of  his  own.  Cattle  kept  in  this 
way  can  lie  down  with  ease  ;  their  manure  does  not 
adhere  to  their  sides,  for  they  choose  the  cleanest 
places ;  they  rise  with  ease ;  they  relish  their  food 
much  better,  eating  in  the  yard  what  they  had  already 
blown  upon  when  in  the  barn  ;  their  manure  is  worth 
a  vast  deal  more,  for  much  of  it  is  trodden  down  out  of 
the  way  of  daily  freezing  and  thawing,  and  all  the 
liquid  part  is  preserved  ;  then,  if  you  have  proper  racks, 
it  is  not  half  the  labor  to  tend  them  ;  and  the  milk  is 
much  cleaner. 

Tight-boarded  barns  require  you  to  dry  your  hay 
much  longer  than  barns  covered  with  boards  not  joint- 
ed ;  otherwise  it  will  grow  musty.  The  difference, 
we  think,  may  be  one  whole  hour  in  the  drying  ;  and 
one  additional  hour's  drying  will  often  cost  you  one 
more  opening  of  your  hay,  and  sometimes  a  dripping 
to  boot. 

Board  your  barns,  therefore,  with  square-edged 
boards,  and  neither  joint  nor  match  them.  Hay  wants 
a  little  crevice  to  let  off  the  steam,  as  well  as  corn  in 
the  crib,  and  will  be  as  much  sweeter  in  spring  as  tha 


FARM-BUILDINGS.  127 

breath  of  a  lady  who  has  slept  in  an  open  chamber. 
In  this  way,  the  boarding  of  your  barn  will  cost  yon, 
at  least,  one  quarter  less.  We  venture  to  assert,  from 
actual  experiment,  that  hay  put  in  such  a  barn  —  and 
not  beaten  down,  but  having  a  peck  of  salt  thrown  on 
to  a  ton  —  will  not  need  so  much  sunning  by  two 
whole  hours  as  hay  stowed  into  a  tight  barn  and  with- 
out salt.  This  is  often  a  great  saving  of  labor  ;  for 
you  are  enabled  often  to  house  it  one  day  sooner  than 
you  otherwise  could. 

Racks  should  be  placed  under  shelter,  but  not  at 
the  side  of  the  barn  or  yard.  A  rack  twelve  feet  long 
will  seldom  accommodate  more  than  one  animal,  if 
placed  at  the  side  ;  but  a  rack  six  feet  long,  and  away 
from  the  side,  so  that  the  cattle  may  move  around  it, 
will  accommodate  three  or  four :  they  approach  it  as 
they  would  a  stack  of  hay  ;  and,  being  outside  of  the 
circle,  they  are  not  in  fear  of  being  cornered  and 
hooked. 

A  manger  should  be  fixed  under  each  rack,  to  catch 
the  hay-seeds  and  the  broken  leaves,  and  to  hold  the 
grain,  or  the  turnips,  or  other  vegetables,  given  to  the 
cattle. 

If  there  is  not  room  for  your  racks  under  your  barns 
or  your  sheds,  it  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  place  a  couple 
of  boards  over  the  rack,  to  keep  the  rains  from  the  hay : 
a  little  moisture  or  snow  will  not  hurt  the  hay,  and  the 
cattle  relish  it  better. 

We  have  tried  this  mode  of  keeping  cattle  of  all  sorts 
for  years,  and  have  sometimes  kept  forty  head.  We 
are  well  satisfied  the  cattle  are  more  comfortable,  the 
manure  is  much  better,  and  the  labor  much  less. 

If  any  prefer  tying  up  by  the  head,  let  the  leanto  be 
filled  in  the  fall  with  loam  or  litter,  for  the  cattle  to 
stand  upon  ;  but  by  no  means  have  a  floor,  unless  it 
be  a  partial  one  behind  them,  of  one  plank's  width,  to 
facilitate  the  clearing  off  the  manure. 


12S  CORRESPONDENCE. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

Mr.  Editor,  —  I  intend  to  sow  one  acre  with  wheat 
this  spring,  and  I  want  to  know  if  it  is  necessary  to 
wash  it,  or  soak  it,  or  do  any  thing  more  to  the  seed 
than  I  should  to  spring  rye  ? 

I  also  wish  to  know  how  much  seed  you  sow  to  the 
acre,  and  whether  any  manure  should  he  put  on  this 
spring.  Z. 

Marlborough^  March  20. 

We  advise  our  correspondent  to  wash  his  wheat 
perfectly  clean,  by  taking  half  a  bushel  at  a  time,  and 
stirring  it  about  in  a  large  tub  full  of  water ;  change 
the  water  several  times  till  it  looks  perfectly  clean ; 
then  turn  the  wheat  into  a  bushel-basket  to  be  drained; 
then  turn  it  from  the  basket  into  a  dry  lime-cask,  or 
tub,  and  mix  thoroughly  with  the  wheat  two  quarts  of 
slaked  lime,  and  stir  the  whole  well  until  every  kernel 
of  wheat  is  limed.  When  this  is  done  take  another 
half  bushel  of  wheat,  and  go  through  with  the  same 
process  until  all  is  prepared.  This  may  now  stand 
several  days  without  injury,  if  the  ground  is  not  ready 
for  sowing. 

Good  wheat  is  sometimes  raised  without  this  cleans- 
ing, but  you  run  a  risk  of  smut.  On  the  Kennebec 
river,  where  they  now  raise  excellent  wheat,  they  were 
much  troubled  with  smut  in  their  wheat  until  they 
prepared  it  in  this  way.  Their  land  is  more  clayey 
than  ours  and  much  better  calculated  for  wheat. 
Other  preparations,  such  as  strong  urine,  or  salt  water, 
may  answer  the  purpose,  but  lime  is  effectual,  and  is 
as  easily  applied  as  any  thing. 

As  to  the  quantity  of  seed,  we  commonly  sow  one 
bushel  and  a  half  to  the  acre.  Old  or  rotten  manure 
may  be  used,  but  you  must  by  no  means  put  on  green 
manure.     It  will  not  work  soon  enough :  it  will  be  fit 


CORRESPONDENCE.  129 

for  action  about  the  time  when  your  wheat  is  most  in 
danger  of  growing  too  fast  and  bursting  open  the  stalk, 
letting  out  the  sap  and  forming  rust,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  proper  juices  from  passing  into  tlie  head  of  the 
grain.  —  Ed. 

Mr.  BucKMiNSTER,  —  I  havc  a  heifer  calf  from  a 
very  good  cow  of  tiie  native  breed.  At  eight  weeks 
old  this  calf  will  bring  me  ten  dollars  ;  shall  1  sell  it 
and  trust  to  luck  for  getting  one  from  New  Hampshire, 
or  Vermont,  at  one  year  and  a  half  old,  for  eight  or  ten 
dollars,  or  shall  I  rear  it  ? 

I  set  the  whole  cost  of  keeping  the  calf  this  summer 
against  the  value  of  the  milk  that  is  required  to  fatten 
it ;  then  my  calf  stands  at  ten  dollars  in  the  fall.  It 
will  eat  five  hundred  weight  of  good  hay  the  first 
winter,  equal  to  four  dollars.  It  may  be  kept  twenty- 
six  weeks  the  next  summer  for  about  two  dollars. 
Then  I  have  a  calf  of  my  own  raising  at  ten,  and  four, 
and  two,  equal  to  sixteen  dollars,  one  and  a  half  years 
old.  I  can  usually  buy  from  the  country  at  that  age 
for  eight  or  ten  dollars.  They  are  now  higher,  but 
not  so  high  as  sixteen  dollars.  I  hesitate,  and  want 
advice.  P. 

Soiithborough,  March  21. 

If  cattle  from  the  country  should  continue  to  beheld 
as  high  as  they  have  been,  we  may  as  well  rear  our 
own  stock,  for  we  have  some  advantage  in  knowing 
the  race  from  which  we  breed.  As  times  have  been  in 
years  past,  we  could  usually  buy,  at  one  year  and  a  half 
old,  a  likely  calf  for  the  same  money  that  we  obtained 
for  one  at  eight  weeks  old,  well  fatted.  In  Vermont,  a 
calf  eight  weeks  old  is  not  worth  three  dollars,  and 
hay  in  many  places  not  more  than  four  or  fiv^e  dollars 
the  ton,  and  pasturing  in  proportion.  It  would  seem 
proper,  in  such  a  state  of  things,  to  purchase,  rather  than 
to  raise  from  calves  our  ordinary  stock  ;  but  there  are, 
12 


130  CORRESPONDENCE. 

arjd  ever  have  been,  exceptions  to  such  a  rule :  when 
we  have  an  extraordinary  cow  for  the  dairy,  we  should 
by  all  means  rear  her  calf:  such  calves  will  bring  an 
extra  price  at  two  years  old,  and  will  then  become 
breeders  themselves,  if  we  take  good  care  of  them. 
They  will  also  well  pay  the  cost  of  rearing:  if  they 
are  kept  properly  the  first  winter,  they  will  be  quite 
large  enough  for  breeders  at  two  years  of  age  ;  and  they 
make  much  better  cows  than  if  suffered  to  go  longer 
without  calves,  for  the  younger  the  animal  is  ivhcn  its 
lacteals  or  milk-vessels  are  first  distended^  the  greater 
will  he  the  produce  of  milk.  It  is  therefore  an  impor- 
tant object  to  take  such  care  of  calves  that  they  may 
be  large  enough  for  breeders  at  two  years  old.  Two 
weeks  ago  we  sold  two  heifers,  that  were  not  over  ten 
months  old,  for  thirty  dollars.  We  suffered  them  to 
take  about  half  the  milk  for  three  months  —  the  first 
half — saving  the  richest  part  for  butter.  Since  they 
were  put  up  to  hay  they  have  daily  had  two  quarts 
each  of  ruta  baga,  cut  fine  with  a  spade  on  the  barn 
floor.  They  have  been  gaining  flesh  ever  since  they 
were  put  up. 

Stock  Farms.  As  prices  are,  stock  farms  must  be 
encouraged.  We  have  found  this  the  most  profitable 
branch  of  husbandry.  Bat  instead  of  purchasing  large 
pampered  animals  from  abroad,  we  would  be  ambitious 
of  selecting  the  best-shaped  animals  for  breeders,  and 
from  these  select  those  giving  the  richest  milk,  or  those 
best  calculated  for  draft.  We  think  it  possible  to 
select  and  rear  a  breed  that  shall  prove  excellent  for 
both  milk  and  draft. 

One  good  cow  may  have  a  bad  calf — she  may  have 
come  from  a  bad  cow  —  but,  by  continuing  to  breed 
from  good  ones,  there  can  be  do  doubt  of  succeeding  in 
the  improvement  of  the  breed,  so  as  to  come  near  per- 
fection. This  has  been  done  in  other  countries,  and 
may  be  done  here.     Still  it  must  be  considered,  if  the 


SILK. 


131 


practice  should  become  general,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  great  markets,  to  rear  our  own  neat  stock,  that  the 
price  of  veal  would  rise  ;  and  the  temptation  would 
then  be  stronger  than  ever  to  supply  the  markets  with 
veal,  and  replenish  our  stock  from  the  country 
droves.  —  Ed. 


[From  the  Genesee  Farmer.] 

SILK. 


As  I  am  fully  convinced,  by  the  knowledge  furnished 
by  those  who  have  made  experiments,  and  by  the  little 
experience  I  have  had,  that  the  raising  of  silk  will  ere 
long  become  one  of  the  most  important  branches  of 
American  industry,  I  feel  it  a  satisfaction  as  well  as 
duty  in  "  furnishing  my  quota  of  knowledge,"  al- 
though it  may  be  but  a  drop  to  the  bucket  furnished  by 
others. 

Last  spring  I  procured  between  five  and  six  thou- 
sand eggs,  which  hatched  about  five  thousand  worms. 
Four  thousand  were  of  the  two-crop  kind,  and  the  re- 
maining one  thousand  the  sulphur-colored  six-weeks 
worm.  The  two-crop  worms,  which  hatched  first, 
began  to  wind  in  twenty-four  days.  They  wound 
hard  and  valuable  cocoons.  And  here  I  would  men- 
tion, that  no  worms  should  be  saved  after  twenty-four 
hours  from  the  time  they  commence  hatching,  —  a  fact 
which  I  was  not  apprised  of  at  the  time  mine  were 
hatched.  I  saved  all^  and  commenced  feeding  them, 
but  soon  ascertained  that  the  later  ones  would  accom- 
plish but  little.  Some  of  them  continued  eating  until 
the  sixth  week,  and  then  died,  while  others  wound  thin 
and  worthless  cocoons.  All  of  the  six-weeks  worms 
did  well,  and  wound  the  best  of  cocoons. 

I  am  not  fully  satisfied  as  yet  which  are  the  more 


132 


SILK. 


profitable,  the  six-weeks  worms,  or  the  two-crop  :  the 
former  coDsume  more  leaves,  are  two  weeks  longer 
arriving  to  maturity,  and  produce  more  silk.  The 
cocoons  of  the  latter  reel  stronger,  (at  least  mine  did.) 
and  the  quality  of  the  silk,  in  my  judgment,  is  equally 
as  good.  Mr.  Danforth,  however,  states,  in  his  com- 
munication '-to  the  committee  on  silk,  American 
Instirtute,"  that,  "  the  large  six-weeks  worm,  either 
white  or  sulphur-colored,  is  altogether  preferable  to  the 
two-crop;  for,  not  only  are  they  more  productive  of 
silk,  but,  from  their  superior  length  of  thread,  the  reefer 
is  able  to  produce  silk  of  better  quality,  and  with  less 
labor." 

I  fed  the  white  and  native  mulberry  leaves  alter- 
nately, as  I  could  most  conveniently  gather  them. 
The  worms  seem  to  prefer  the  white,  but  were  not  at 
all  backward  in  eating  the  native  ;  for,  when  in  health, 
they  are  rather  the  most  swine-like  insects  I  ever  be- 
came acquainted  with.  I  had  about  one  bushel  of 
cocoons,  and  should  think,  from  what  1  had  reeled,  they 
would  produce  one  pound  of  silk.  The  silk  that  I 
have  reeled  is  of  an  excellent  quality,  strong,  soft,  and 
has  a  beautiful  lustre.  It  was  reeled  on  the  common 
reel,  and  twisted  on  the  common  wheel,  which  are 
rather  heavy  and  awkward  apparatus  for  the  business, 
hoAvever.  I  am  fully  satisfied  with  the  result  of  the 
experiment,  and  am  confident  that  the  whole  process 
of  raising  silk,  from  the  rearing  of  the  mulberry  to  the 
manufacturing  of  the  cloth,  can  be  done  with  ease  and 
safety,  and  if  carried  on  judiciously,  will  afford  abun- 
dant profit  to  warrant  any  one  in  engaging  in  the 
business. 

I  am  much  pleased  with  the  "  Apparatus  for  feeding 
Silk- Worms,"  likewise  the  "  Apparatus  for  the  Worms 
to  wind  their  Cocoons  on,"  recommended  on  the  44th 
page  of  the  current  vol.  of  the  Parmer.  This  apparatus 
for  winding,  of  Mr.  Harvey  Hammond,  is  unquestiona- 
bly an   excellent  one,  a^   the  worms  seem  to  prefer 


ORCHARDS.  133 

paper  to  almost  any  thing  else.  I  have  taken  worms 
that  have  travelled  about  half  a  day  on  brush  and 
other  apparatus  made  for  them  to  wind  on,  and  put 
them  in  a  piece  of  paper  rolled  in  the  shape  of  a  cone, 
and  they  would  commence  winding  immediately.  At 
first,  i  had  considerable  difficulty  in  suiting  the  worms 
with  places  to  wind  on ;  so  I  went  to  work  and  made 
an  apparatus  somewhat  similar  to  Mr.  Hammond's,  and 
found  it  answered  the  very  purpose,  with  this  excep- 
tion :  many  of  the  vacancies  were  altogether  too  large  ; 
the  worms  wound  too  much  floss,  and  too  many  du- 
pions,  or  double  cocoons.  I  have  of  late  noticed  a 
*'  new  cocoon  frame,"  described  on  the  15th  page  of 
the  7th  volume  of  Genesee  Farmer,  which  I  consider 
an  excellent  plan. 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention,  in 
conclusion,  that  I  have  two  trees  of  the  Morus  Multi- 
caulis  inoculated  into  the  white,  that  have  thus  far 
withstood  the  severity  of  the  winter,  and,  at  the  present 
time,  (March  9,)  but  three  or  four  inches  of  the  tops 
have  been  injured  by  the  frost.  My  thanks  to  W. 
W.  B.  for  so  much  in  this  particular,,  and  much  more  in 
many  others. 


ORCHARDS. 

We  are  often  inquired  of  as  to  the  best  time  of  trim- 
ming apple-trees.  Old  dry  limbs  may  be  cut  away  when- 
ever you  have  leisure  ;  but  green  limbs  would  better  be 
taken  off  later  than  this  in  the  season.  When  trimmed 
as  late  as  May,  the  wounds  are  sooner  healed  than 
when  trimmed  in  winter.  Large  green  limbs  should 
never  be  cut  from  the  tree  :  they  are  better  there  than 
on  the  fire.  If  trees  are  annually  trimmed  of  the  small 
interfering  limbs,  there  will  be  no  large  ones  in  the 
way. 

12^ 


134  REPORT    OF    THE 

[From  the  Albany  Cultivator.] 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  ROOT  CULTURE. 

The  committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
society,  to  "  Report  on  the  best  vegetable  or  root  crops 
for' feeding  cattle,  and  the  best  means  of  cultivating 
the  same,"  report  as  follows : 

The  culture  of  roots,  as  farm  crops,  for  feeding  and 
fattening  domestic  animals,  is  of  such  recent  introduc- 
tion, and  so  limited,  among  us,  and  the  few  experi- 
ments that  have  been  made  to  ascertain  the  relative 
value  of  these  roots  have  been  so  loosely  managed, 
that  the  committee  do  not  possess  the  data  that  they 
could  desire,  to  make  a  satisfactory  report,  adapted  ex- 
actly to  our  practice.  But  they  are  nevertheless  satis- 
fied, from  the  numerous  experiments  which  haVe  been 
made  in  Europe,  in  a  climate  very  similar  to  our  own, 
and  from  the  partial  ones  which  have  been  made 
among  us,  that  the  culture  of  roots  is  destined  to  effect 
here,  what  it  has  effected  elsewhere,  a  great  and 
salutary  change  in  husbandry;  not  only  as  furnishing 
the  easiest  and  cheapest  means  of  feeding  and  fatten- 
ing domestic  animals,  but  as  an  important  source  of 
fertility  to  the  farm,  and  of  securing  the  main  point, 
ultimate  profit,  to  the  OAvner  or  cultivator. 

Under  these  strong  impressions  of  the  advantages  of 
encouraging  and  extending  root  culture,  your  commit- 
tee proceed,  with  the  limited  means  at  their  command, 
to  fulfil  the  duties  assigned  to  them  by  the  society. 

The  Highland  Agricultural  Society  of  Scotland  have 
recently  awarded  liberal  premiums  for  experiments  in 
fattening  neat  cattle ;  firsts  upon  different  kinds  of 
roots,  as  the  potato,  turni]),  and  mangold-wurtzel  ; 
second,  upon  raw  and  cooked  food  ;  and,  thhd,  upon 
roots  entirely,  and  a  mixture  of  roots,  grain,  pulse,  and 
oil-cake.     These  experiments  have  been  made  with  a 


COMMITTEE  ON  ROOT  CULTURE.  135 

view  of  accurately  ascertaining  the  comparative  value 
of  each  kind  of  root  and  other  food,  and  the  economy 
of  each  mode  of  feeding  it.  The  experiments  have 
been  numerous.  They  liave  been  made  on  from  ten 
to  thirty  head  of  cattle  at  a  time  ;  and  they  have  been 
continued  from  three  to  six  months.  The  animals 
were  weighed  or  measured  at  the  time  of  starting  the 
experiment,  at  the  close  of  it,  and  generally  at  inter- 
mediate periods,  particularly  when  the  food  was  varied  : 
and  the  quantity  of  roots  and  other  food  given  was 
accurately  noted,  so  that  the  result  has  indicated  the 
relative  vahie  of  each  kind  of  food  in  the  fattening 
process,  and  the  best  mode  of  feeding  it.  The  com- 
mittee proceed  to  state,  in  a  summary  way,  the  results 
of  some  of  these  experiments. 

1.  The  relative  Value  of  different  Roots, 
Mr.  Howden,  with  a  view  to  the  experiment,  set 
apart  the  product  of  two  acres  of  mangold-wurtzel, 
amounting  to  fifty  tons,  five  acres  of  Swedish  turnips, 
being  one  hundred  and  forty  tons,  and  two  acres  of 
potatoes,  weighing  twenty-nine  tons,  four  cwt.  The 
experiment  was  made  with  twenty-one  head  of  cattle, 
which  received,  in  addition  to  the  roots,  a  few  dis- 
tiller's grains,  and  a  little  straw.  The  following  table 
shows  the  roots  appropriated  to  each  lot,  and  the 
monthly  increase  of  animals  in  the  girth.  The  ab- 
stract is  made  from  the  prize  essays  of  the  society, 
which  cannot  now  be  referred  to  ;  but  the  impression 
is,  that  in  all  the  experiments  which  we  quote,  the 
roots  fed  to  each  lot  was  precisely  the  same  in  weight. 
Lot  No.  1.  was  fed  from  the  product  of  one  acre  of 
potatoes,  ofte  acre  of  mangold-wurtzel,  and  one  acre  of 
Swedish  turnips ;  No.  2  from  one  acre  of  potatoes,  and 
two  acres  of  Swedish  turnips;  and  No.  3  from  one 
acre  of  mangold-wurtzel,  and  two  acres  of  Swedish 
turnips. 


BEPORl 

OF    THE 

Lot  No.  1. 

I^t  No.  2. 

Lot  No.  3. 

35  feet  8  inches. 

35  feet  9  inches. 

35  feet  8  inches 

36    "    6      " 

36    "    7      " 

36    "    6      " 

38    "    2      " 

38   "    4      " 

38    "    2      " 

39    "    7      " 

39    "    8      " 

39    "    6      " 

40    "    8      " 

40   "  10      " 

40    "    6      " 

41    "    4      " 

41    "    7      " 

31    "    3      " 

136 

Date. 

1831,  Nov.  30, 
Dec.  30, 

1832,  Jan.  30, 
Mch.  1, 

"     30, 
April  30, 

Twenty-eight  tonsof  mangold-wurtzel  and  Swedish 
turnips  were  withdrawn  to  feed  other  stock. 

On  the  30th  January,  Mr.  Howden  took  a  pair  of 
cattle  out  of  each  lot,  and  fed  No.  1  with  potatoes  and 
water,  No.  2  with  Swedish  turnips,  and  No.  3  with 
mangold-wurtzel.  The  following  shows  their  relative 
increase  in  three  months : 

Lor  1.  Lot  2.  Lot  3. 

Date.  Potatoes.  Swedish  Turnips.        Mangokl-Wurtzel. 

1832,  Jan.  30,    10  feet  8  inches.     10  feet  5  inches.     10  feet  4  inches. 
Ap.  30,    11    "    6      "  11    "    3      "  11    "    2      " 

When  the  cattle  were  sold,  the  purchasers  agreed 
that  the  lot  fed  on  Swedish  turnips  were  from  fs.  to 
10s.  ($1  54  to  $2  22)  a  head  better  than  the  other  lots. 
The  average  advance  upon  the  original  va^ue  of  each 
was  £6  12s.  and,  the  cost  of  the  grains  being  deducted, 
there  remained  £129  ($532  80)  in  return  for  the  eight 
acres  of  produce  consumed,  or  $66  60  for  each  acre. 

From  the  above  statement  it  would  seem  that  there 
is  no  great  difference  in  the  fattening  properties  of  the 
three  kinds  of  roots ;  and  that,  so  far  as  mea-sure  or 
weight  is  concerned,  it  matters  little  which  are  em- 
ployed in  feeding.  We  will  note  here,  for  future 
reference,  the  product  per  acre  of  each  kind  of  roots 
upon  Mr.  Howden's  ground,  adding  the  product  in 
bushels  of  fifty-six  pounds  : 

The  potatoes  gave      12  tons  4  cwt.  equal  to  48S  bushels. 
The  mangold-wurtzel  25   "  '=  1X)00       " 

The  rutabaga  28    "  "         1120      " 

2.    The  comparative  Economy  of  feeding  raw  or  pre- 
pared Food. 
In    1833,   the  society  offered   a  premium  of  thirty 
sovereigns  for  the  best  report,  founded  on  actual  exper- 


COMMITTEE  ON  ROOT  CULTURE. 


137 


iment  made  for  that  purpose,  on  a  number  of  oxen  or 
heifers,  not  fewer  than  six  ;  the  animals  to  he  of  the 
same  breed,  age,  and  sex,  and  the  term  of  feeding  not 
less  than  three  months.  Several  reports  were  received 
and  published  in  1834.  From  these  we  abstract  the 
following  : 

Mr.  Walker  made  his  experiment  with  six  two  year 
old  heifers,  and  four  two  year  old  steers.  Each  parcel 
was  divided  into  two  lots,  and  fed  on  like  food,  except 
that  one  half  received  their  food  raw,  and  the  other 
half  in  a  steamed  or  cooked  state.  The  food  consist- 
ed of  Swedish  turnips,  potatoes,  and  crushed  beans, 
with  a  little  salt  and  straw.  At  the  end  of  three 
months,  it  was  found  that  the  three  heifers  fed  on 
steamed  food  had  gained  A8h  stone,  or  679  lbs.  ;  and 
the  three  heifers  fed  upon  raw  food  had  gained  A5i 
stone  ;  but  the  quantity  consumed  by  the  first  lot  ex- 
ceeded that  of  the  latter. 

Cost  of  feeding  on  steamed  food,     .    .     .    .    £14    13 

"  "        on  raw  food.       10    8  7^ 

The  first  cost  more  than  the  last,     .     .     .     .    i>  3  14  8i 

Deducting  the  first  cost  and  the  price  of  fattening 
from  the  price  paid  by  the  butcher,  there  remained  a 
profit  on  the  three  heifers  fed  with  steamed  food  of 
9s.  ;  while  the  profit  on  the  three  fattened  with  raw 
food  amounted  to  £3  10s.  6d.  By  a  like  estimate,  the 
loss  on  the  steers  fed  with  steamed  food  was  3s.  8d. 
and  the  profit  on  those  fed  with  raw  food,  10s.  6d. 

Andrew  Howden  made  a  like  experiment  with 
eighteen  cattle,  in  six  lots.  Their  increase  and  ex- 
pense of  keeping  for  three  months,  from  the  20th 
March  to  the  20th  June,  were  as  follows : 

Incr.  in  lbs.  Expense. 

Three  heifers  on  raw  turnips,    ....  392  £6  18  0 

"          "       on  steamed  turnips, .     .     .  532  8  18  0 

"           "       on  raw  potatoes,      .     .     .  600  10    7  0 

"          "      on  steamed  potatoes,    .     .  572  10    7  0 

"       steers  on  raw  potatoes  and  corn,  722  9    4  0 

'-5          "      on  boiled   "                "  689  9    5^ 


138 


REPORT    OF    THE 


John  Baswell  fed  ten  homed  cattle.  The  expense  of 
keeping  the  five  cattle  on  raw  food  was  £32  2s.  Id. 
while  that  of  the  cattle  on  prepared  food  was  £34  5s. 
lOd.  On  being  slaughtered,  the  two  lots  appeared  to  be 
very  similar,  but  the  particular  weight  is  not  mentioned. 

3.  Relative  Economy  of  feeding  with  Tiirniips  alone^ 
or  with  Turnips  and  other  more  expensive  Food. 
Robert  Stevenson  was  the  successful  competitor  for 
the  society's  premium.  He  took  eighteen  oxen  ;  their 
live  weight  was  ascertained  at  the  beginning,  at  the 
end,  and  at  intermediate  periods  of  the  experiment, 
which  continued  119  days.  The  cattle  were  divided 
mto  three  lots  of  six  beasts  each,  and  a  correct  account 
was  kept  of  the  weight  of  food  consumed  by  each  lot. 
Lot  1  was  allowed  linseed  cake,  bruised  beans,  and 
bruised  oats,  in  addition  to  turnips,  and,  during  the  last 
twenty-four  days  of  the  experiment,  twenty  pounds  of 
potatoes  were  given  per  day  to  each  ;  lot  2  received 
the  same  allowance,  except  the  linseed  cake,  and  half 
the  potatoes,  and  lot  3  was  fed  upon  turnips  alone. 
The  cost  of  the  keep  of  each  animal,  during  the  119 
days,  was  as  follows  : 

Total  cost  of  feeding  one  beast  of  lot  1,  ^  .  ,  £5  2  7 
of  lot  2,  .  .  .  .  3  17  0 
of  lot  3,     .     .     .     .  1  18  7i 

The  improvement  in  live  weight  was  as  follows : 

First  lot  increased  in  weight 108  stone. 

Second  "  "        101     " 

Third  "  "        . 49    '^ 

Abstracting  the  cost  of  feeding  from  the  value  of  the 
increased  weight,  the  loss  and  profit  would  stand  as 
below  : 

Loss  on  feeding  lot  1, £3  15  Si 

Profit  on  feeding  lot  2, 119  3^ 

Profit  on  feeding  lot  3, 2  11  1 

*'Thus,  when  turnips  alone  were  used,  a  profit  of 
twenty-two  per  cent,  was  realized  j  where  beans  and 


COMMITTEE  ON  ROOT  CULTURE.  139 

oats  were  used  along  with  the  tnrnips.  the  profit  was 
diminished  to  eight  and  a  half  per  cent. ;  but  when 
still  more  expensive  food  was  tried  —  that  is,  grain 
and  linseed  cake,  along  with  tnrnips  and  potatoes  — 
a  loss  was  sustained  of  no  less  than  12  3.16  per  cent." 
Lot  1  were  the  largest  oxen.  They  were  fed  each 
with  132  lbs.  per  day  of  Swedish  turnips.  Lot  2  were 
fed  each  with  120  lbs.  of  the  same  per  day  ;  and  lot 
3,  being  the  smallest,  received  but  115  lbs.  per  day; 
and,  for  twenty-four  days,  but  ninety-two  pounds. 

Lot  1  cost  4.484  pence  for  every  lb.  of  increased  live  weight. 

Lot  2    "     3.92 

Lots    "     3.39  "  "  " 

The  turnips  were  estimated  at  four  pence  per  cwt. ; 
the  potatoes  at  Is.  6d.  per  cwt.  ;  oats  and  beans  at  3s. 
6d.  per  bushel  ;  and  linseed  cake  at  three  fourths  of 
a  penny  per  pound. 

"  In  conclusion,"  says  Mr.  Stevenson,  on  this  part  of 
the  subject,  ''  we  give  it  as  our  opinion,  that  whoever 
feeds  cattle  on  turnips  alone,  will  have  no  reason,  on  the 
score  of  profit,  to  regret  their  not  having  employed  more 
expensive  auxiliaries  to  hasten  the  fattening  process." 

It  would  seem  pretty  evident,  from  the  foregoing 
experiments,  that  ruta  baga  and  mangold-wurtzel  are 
the  best  root  crops  for  feeding  cattle.  The  profit  of 
cultivating  and  feeding  these  roots  will  be  more  mani- 
fest if  we  compare  their  acreable  product  with  that  of 
hay,  potatoes,  and  the  coarse  grains  which  we  feed  to 
fattening  animals.  To  enable  the  committee  to  make 
this  comparison,  they  assume  the  following  as  the 
average  products  of  crops,  and  attach  to  each  of  these 
an  estimate  of  their  marketable  value.  Both  the  prod- 
uct and  the  prices  will  greatly  vary  ;  but  those  as- 
sumed are  deemed  sufficiently  correct  for  comparison. 


acre  of  grass, 

2i 

tons, 

at 

$10,  .... 

.  S20  00 

"          corn, 

40  bushels 

,  at  75  cents,    . 

.    30  00 

"         oats, 

30 

at  37^  cents,  . 

.     11  20 

"         buckwheat, 

30 

at  50  cents,     . 

.     15  00 

"         potatoes, 

150 

at  25  cents,    . 

.    37  50 

*'          ruta  baga, 

600 

at  25  cents,     , 

.  150  00 

"          mangold-wurtzel, 

600 

at  25  cents,    . 

.  150  00 

140  REPORT    OF    THE 

Estimating  the  cost  of  the  roots,  in  labor,  at  twenty 
dollars  an  acre  more  than  that  of  the  hay,  oats,  and 
buckwheat,  it  still  leaves  a  great  disparity  in  the 
profits;  and,  considering  the  cost  of  cultnre  equal  to 
that  of  Indian  corn,  there  is  a  manifest  advantage  in 
the  turnips  and  mangold- wurtzel  over  the  corn  crop  as 
a  material  for  cattle  food.  Good  beef  cannot  be  made 
on  hay  alone,  in  winter  ;  and  those  who  do  not  feed 
roots,  must  resort  to  some  more  expensive  food,  as  the 
meal  of  Indian  corn,  oats,  buckwheat,  &c.  The  tur- 
nips and  mangold-wurtzel,  on  the  contrary,  with  the 
aid  of  perhaps  a  little  straw,  will  serve  of  themselves 
to  feed  and  fatten  animals.  In  this  matter,  the  chair- 
man can  speak  from  experience.  He  purchased  four 
oxen,  a  little  before  Christmas,  and  kept  them  till  some 
time  in  April  :  after  a  short  time,  they  ate  each  two 
bushels  a  day  of  rnta  baga :  they  would  eat  very  little 
else,  though  laid  before  them,  not  even  linse6d  cake. 
They  made  good  beef,  and  afforded  a  handsome  profit 
on  the  turnips  consvuned. 

If  we  now  assume  that  an  ox  will  require  a  quarter 
of  a  hundred  of  hay  per  diem  to  keep  in  good  condi- 
tion, and  that  it  will  require  an  addition  of  four  quarts 
of  corn-meal,  or  eight  quarts  of  crushed  oats  or  buck- 
wheat, per  diem,  to  fatten  him  ;  and  if  we  consider 
112  potmds  or  two  bushels  of  roots  equivalent  to  a 
ration  of  hay  and  grain,  then  the  several  crops  will 
feed  an  animal,  as  below  : 

One  acre  of  gra^s  and  half  an  acre  of  corn  will  feed       .     .     .  IGO  days. 
One  and  a  half  acre  of  mangold-wurtzel,  or  Swedish  turnips, 

will  feed 450  " 

One  acre  of  grass  and  one  acre  of  oats  or  buckwheat  will  feed  160  " 

Two  acres  of  Swedish  turnips  or  mangold-wurtzel  will  feed  600  " 

One  acre  of  potatoes  will  feed      .     .     .• 75  " 

One  acre  of  Swedish  turnips  or  mangold-wurtzel  will  feed      .  300  *♦ 

Making  very  liberal  allowance  for  the  difference  in 
the  expense  of  raising  these  crops,  and  for  any  error 
the  committee  may  have  made  in  fixing  the  daily  ra- 
tions, or  in  the  acreable  produce  of  each,  they  think 
that  no  doubt  can  for  a  moment  be  entertained  that 


COMMITTEE  ON  ROOT  CULTURE.  141 

the  Swedish  turnip  and  the  mangold-wiirtzel  are  de- 
cidedly the  best  crops  that  can  be  raised  for  feeding 
and  fattening  cattle. 

The  committee  have  no  doubt  that  the  sugar-beet 
and  the  carrot  offer  advantages  nearly  or  quite  equal  to 
th€  roots  above  recommended.  Their  product  and 
nutrient  properties  are  very  similar,  and  the  expense 
of  culture  is  not  very  dissimilar.  The  sugar-beet  is 
probably  richer  in  nutriment  than  the  mangold-wnrtzel, 
though  its  product  is  ordinarily  less.  The  carrot  may 
require  more  labor  in  the  cnltnre,  but  is  superior  as 
food,  particularly  for  horses. 

Arthur  Young  highly  extols  the  carrot.  Upon  the 
product  of  three  acres  of  this  root  he  assures  us  he 
kept,  for  more  than  five  months,  twenty  work  horses, 
four  bullocks,  and  six  milch  cows  ;  nor  did  the  animals, 
during  that  period,  he  adds,  taste  any  food,  except  a 
little  hay.  Our  enterprising  fellow-citizen,  Col.  Mea- 
cham,  of  Oswego,  has  gone  largely  into  the  culture  of 
carrots,  as  cattle-feed,  as  well  as  many  of  his  neigh- 
bors ;  and  they  speak  highlj''  of  the  profits  of  the 
culture. 

Some  highly  satisfactory  experiments  have  also  been 
made  among  us,  on  a  limited  scale,  in  cultivating  and 
feeding  the  sugar-beet.  There  seems  to  be  but  little 
doubt,  from  the  high  state  of  perfection  and  of  profit 
which  the  business  has  arrived  at  in  France  and  Ger- 
many, that  the  culture  of  this  beet  will  soon  be  exten- 
sively gone  into  in  this  country,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  sugar;  and  if  so,  the  residuum  of  the  beet  will 
form  an  important  item  in  the  material  for  fattening 
cattle. 

There  are  other  advantages  resulting  from  root  cul- 
ture which  should  not  be  overlooked.  It  tends  greatly 
to  increase  the  quantity  of  manure  on  the  farm,  to 
meliorate  the  texture  of  the  soil,  and  to  furnish  excel- 
lent alternate  crops  in  convertible  husbandry.  In  se- 
lecting for  culture,  the  farmer  should  choose  the  roots 
13 


142 

that  are  best  adapted  to  his  soil.  The  turnips  prefer  a 
dry,  sandy  soil ;  the  beet,  a  clay  loam. 

As  to  the  best  means  of  cultivating  these  crops,  the 
committee  summarily  remark  that  the  product  and 
profit  will  materially  depend  upon  the  following  con- 
tingencies, viz.  that  the  soil  be  dry,  that  it  be  rich, 
that  it  be  deeply  worked,  that  it  be  well  pulverized, 
and  that  the  after-culture  be  well  managed.  The  im- 
plements necessary  to  cultivate  them  advantageously,  in 
addition  to  the  plough  and  harrow,  are  the  drillbarrow 
and  cultivator.  The  season  for  sowing  the  beet  is  from 
the  10th  to  the  20ih  May  ;  of  sowing  the  Swedish  tur- 
nip, from  the  10th  to  the  25th  June.  The  drill  or  row 
culture  is  decidedly  the  best.  A  detail  of  the  whole 
process  of  culture  would  occupy  too  much  space  for 
this  report,  and  is  unnecessary,  as  these  processes  are 
already  understood  by  many,  and  have  been  minutely 
described  in  the  agricultural  periodicals  of  the  day. 
The  committee  will  merely  recommend,  in  conclusion, 
that  the  roots  be  always  cut  previously  to  being  fed  to 
cattle,  for  which  machines  may  be  procured,  at  a  mod- 
erate charge,  which  will  cut  a  bushel  in  from  one  to 
three  minutes.  If  cut,  the  roots  are  eaten  entirely  ;  if 
not  cut,  a  portion  is  apt  to  be  rejected  and  wasted. 

The  chairman  has  received  a  communication  from 
Col.  Meacham,  stating  his  mode  of  cultivating  the  car- 
rot, the  product  and  manner  of  using  the  crop.  He 
cultivates  them  in  drills,  from  twenty  to  twenty-four 
inches  apart ;  he  gets  one  thousand  bushels  an  acre,  at 
an  expense  of  $25  to  $30  :  he  kept  six  work  horses 
on  them  from  November,  1836,  to  June,  1837,  with- 
out grain,  and  they  remained  in  good  plight,  and  per- 
formed as  well  as  he  ever  had  horses  perform,  and  he 
thinks  they  are  worth  double  as  much  for  stock  as  ruta 
baga. 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  carrot  culture,  which  is 
perhaps  less  understood  among  us  than  that  of  the 
beet  and  turnip,  the  committee  will  add  that  this  root 


FARM    TOOLS.  143 

thrives  best  in  a  sandy  loam,  light,  moist,  biU  not  wet, 
and  of  great  depth ;  in  which  the  plough,  going  to  the 
beam,  brings  to  the  surface  nothing  that  is  not  fit  for 
vegetation.  The  ground  should  be  ploughed  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  sowing.  In  Suffolk,  England,  they 
sow  eight  pounds  seed,  broad-cast,  to  the  acre  ;  and 
the  crop  is  from  four  hundred  to  five  hundred  bushels. 
For  horses  they  are  considered  superior  to  any  other 
food.  Two  bushels  of  carrots  and  one  of  chaff  is  the 
per  diem  allowance  to  a  horse  ;  or  seven  bushels  of 
carrots  and  one  bushel  of  oats  is  the  allowance  for  a 
week.  They  are  also  profitably  fed  to  all  other  farm 
stock.  They  are  raised  in  Suffolk  without  dung,  at 
an  expense  of  9d.  (16  cents)  per  bushel.  The  yield 
of  the  carrot  is  often  seven  hundred  to  one  thousand 
bushels  the  acre.  The  crop  is  gathered  by  making  a 
deep  furrow  near  to  the  drill,  when  a  man  seizes, 
draws  the  top  to  the  furrow,  and  pulls  them  up  with 
great  facility. 

Another  root,  the  parsnip,  is  deserving  of  notice, 
though  its  partial  culture  hitherto  will  hardly  entitle 
it  to  be  classed  among  field-crops.  It  is  believed  to  be 
the  most  nutritious  root  of  any  that  have  been  named, 
is  as  easily  cultivated  as  the  carrot  or  the  beet,  and  has 
this  advantage  over  all  the  others,  that  its  value  is  not 
impaired  by  frost. 

From  the  preceding  views,  the  committee  do  not 
hesitate  to  recommend  the  extension  of  root  culture, 
as  the  most  ready  means  of  keeping  up  the  fertility  of 
our  farms,  and  of  increasing  the  profits  of  their  culti- 
vation. J.  BuEL,  Chairman. 


FARM  TOOLS. 


Let  us  consider,  a  few  moments,  brother  farmers, 
whether  all  the  fuss  we  make  about  improvements  is 
mere  moonshine,  or  whether  we  have  really  gained  a 


144  FARM    TOOLS. 

point  or  two  within  the  last  twenty  years.  Let  us 
fix  one  or  two  landmarks,  and  then  determine  whether 
any  wind  of  doctrine  has  drove  us  ahead,  put  us  back, 
or  left  us  stationary. 

About  twenty  years  back,  while  farming  on  the 
banks  of  the  rich-soiled  Keimebec,  Ave  heard  that  an 
iron  plough  had  been  constructed  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Boston,  which  would  rim  with  so  little  friction  that 
one  yoke  of  oxen  could  easily  draw  it  in  greensward 
land.  We  thought  this  impossible,  for  we  had  general- 
ly been  obliged  to  use  three  yoke  of  cattle  for  this 
service  instead  of  one.  Now  we  often  see  one  yoke 
performing  this  labor,  and  at  less  than  half  the  former 
expense. 

We  think  this  is  pretty  well  for  the  improvement  in 
one  article,  the  most  important  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  the  farmer. 

The  manure-fork,  the  hay-fork,  and  the  shovel,  are 
much  improved  within  a  few  years.  We  can  well 
remember  when  but  few  iron  shovels  were  used. 
Wooden  shovels  with  iron  plates,  or  iron  shod,  were 
the  tools  for  the  farmer  to  remove  his  gravel,  his  loam, 
or  his  manure. 

His  manure-forks  were  made  of  such  poor  iron  that 
it  was  necessary  to  use  large  bars  for  the  tines  :  these 
could  never  be  made  to  penetrate  the  heaps  or  the  soil 
with  ease  ;  and  we  think  we  can  with  safety  assert 
that,  with  a  modern  iron  shovel,  and  a  modern  manure- 
fork,  one  third  part  of  the  former  labor  of  forking  and 
of  shoveling  is  saved. 

Shall  we  stop  at  this  point,  and  conclude  that  no 
farther  improvements  are  to  be  made  in  tools?  or  shall 
we  rather  take  courage  from  what  we  have  seen,  and 
attempt  a  little  farther  improvement?  Let  us  enter 
into  no  wild  speculations — we  cannot  afford  it  —  but  let 
us  not  for  a  moment  suppose  we  can  make  no  farther 
advances.  We  cannot  stop;  the  spirit  of  improvement 
is  up,  aud  we  must  partake  of  it,  if  all  other  kinds  are 
forbidden. 


ON    FARM-YARD    MANAGEMENT.  145 

If  some  substantial  mechanic  should  furnish  you 
with  a  simple  instrument  by  which  you  will  plant  as 
much  corn,  in  any  prepared  field,  as  twenty  men  will 
do,  is  it  not  worth  your  while  to  try  it  ?  If  he  war- 
rants the  performance  of  the  instrument,  you  run  but 
little  risk,  and  you  stand  the  chance  of  taking  the  lead 
in  an  easier  and  a  better  mode  of  planting. 

If  it  should  be  objected  that  we  plant  but  little  in 
New  England,  let  two  or  three  neighboring  farmers 
join  and  own  one.  Where  six  acres  of  corn  are  planted, 
if  the  instrument  will  in  all  probability  pay  its  cost 
the  first  season,  is  it  not  worth  your  time  to  attempt, 
at  least,  a  better  system  of  planting  ? 

Boys  and  hired  men  often  bury  seed  too  deep :  they 
often  cover  it  with  sods  and  with  sorrel.  The  greatest 
crops  of  corn  have  been  grown  by  those  who  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  make  about  eight  thousand  hills 
to  the  acre,  instead  of  four  thousand,  making  the  hills 
about  two  feet  apart  in  the  row. 

In  this  mode,  if  your  rows  are  perfectly  strait  —  as 
they  will  be,  thus  planted  —  you  will  tend  the  crop 
with  more  ease  than  you  will  where  you  plant  by 
hand. 

You  should  procure  one  instrument  that  will  answer 
for  all  kinds  of  seeds,  and  save  the  expense  of  two. 


[From  the  Albany  Centinel.] 

ON  FARM- YARD  MANAGEMENT. 

In  the  business  of  saving  manures  farmers  are  equal- 
ly remiss  :  the  forming  of  composts,  and  manufacturing 
large  quantities  of  manure  by  mixing  the  various 
vegetable  matters  with  top  soils,  with  lime,  and  with 
mud,  is  seldom  or  ever  thought  of. 

To  save  the  greatest  quantity  of  manure,  and  to  pre- 
serve it  from  losing  its  strength,  it  should  be  protected 
13* 


146  ON    FARM-YARD    MANAGEMENT. 

from  the  weather.  If  this  cannot  be  done  under  cover, 
it  is  advisable  to  stack  it,  so  that  it  will  shed  rain,  and 
escape  the  dissipating  effects  of  the  sun  and  the  wind. 
During  frosty  weather  it  will  lose  none  of  its  virtue  ; 
but;  in  the  spring,  the  stacks  mast  be  attended  to  ;  and, 
as  the  bed  of  the  farm-yard  feels  the  influence  of  the 
sun  and  begins  to  thaw,  the  manure  should  be  scraped, 
up  and  added  to  the  stacks :  this  should  never  be 
omitted  ;  otherwise  the  strength  of  it  runs  off  or  is  dis- 
sipated, leaving  nothing  but  the  nnfermented  straw 
behind.  Any  means  that  will  save  it  from  being 
leached  by  rain  should  be  adopted,  and,  in  addition,  and 
to  prevent  the  yards  being  flooded  by  heavy  rains,  the 
buildings  adjacent  to  it  should  be  furnished  with  gut- 
ters and  drains  to  lead  off  the  water:  without  these 
precautions  a  great  share  of  the  manure  in  every  barn- 
yard will  be  exhausted  of  its  best  properties  before  it  is 
applied  to  the  land.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear 
farmers  complain  that  manure  has  little  or  no  efteet  on 
their  land.  And  such  manure  as  some  of  them  make, 
which  has  lain  for  months  exposed  to  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  the  weather,  can  have  no  effect.  Perhaps  it  is 
drawn  out  in  the  winter,  spread  abroad  in  small  heaps, 
and  not  turned  under  till  nearly  all  its  useful  proper- 
ties are  extracted  by  frequent  washings.  Now  notwith- 
standing the  great  value  of  manures  to  the  farmer,  the 
increasing,  preserving,  and  judicious  employment  of 
them  seems  to  be  a  secondary  object  :  considerable 
quantities  are  daily  lost  about  every  farm,  and  what  is 
collected  is  of  little  value,  owing  to  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  treated.  No  farmer  can  expect  to  succeed 
in  his  agricultural  operations  without  the  aid  of  good 
manure  and  plenty  of  it  ;  still  its  augmentation  and 
preservation  seems  to  be  little  cared  for :  provided  his 
barn-yard  is  cleaned,  out  once  a  year,  he  thinks  he  has 
done  enough. 

It  is  feared  that  advances  in  this  branch  of  farming, 
in  common  with  others,  will  not  be  very  rapid  until 


ON    FARM-YARD    MANAGEMENT.  147 

our  rulers,  influenced  by  the  true  principles  of  a  wise 
political  economy,  shall  see  fit  to  do  something  for  the 
cause.  The  rage  for  speculation,  and  the  desire  to 
gather  riches  too  fast,  which  but  lately  filled  the  whole 
community  with  golden  dreams,  has  in  a  measure  sub- 
sided, and  people's  minds  now  being  sobered  down  to 
realities  of  life,  they  are  willing  to  go  to  work  for  a 
hving.  It  seems,  then,  there  never  was  a  time  when 
the  fostering  care  of  the  government  might  be  extended 
to  the  farming  part  of  the  community  with  a  better 
prospect  of  advancing  the  permanent  good  of  the  whole 
than  the  present. 

The  art  of  farming,  in  all  its  various  details,  is  an 
employment  requiring  constant  care  and  attention,  as 
well  as  judgment  in  bringing  its  operations  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue. 

It  is  the  great  employment  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  country,  and,  as  such,  deserves  to  be  considered  by 
our  rulers;  and,  were  they  seriously  to  entertain  the 
purpose  of  encouraging  it,  the  zeal  of  its  followers 
would  be  sharpened,  and  their  eiforts  redoubled,  to 
place  this  science,  to  which  our  country  owes  so  much 
of  its  prosperity,  upon  a  proper  footing.  Committees 
of  agriculture,  it  is  true,  are  appointed,  year  after  year, 
in  our  national  and  stale  legislatures,  to  watch  over  its 
interests  ;  but  what  have  they  done  for  the  cause  which 
feeds  and  clothes  them  ?  The  silk  business  may  have 
been  talked  over  in  the  former,  and  the  Canada  thistle 
choked  in  the  latter,  but  no  important  measure  for  its 
encouragement  has  been  passed,  at  least  of  late  years. 
Every  other  great  interest  of  the  country  seems  to 
have  been  cared  for  but  the  one  under  consideration : 
commerce,  manufactures,  education,  civil  and  military, 
the  fisheries,  &c.  are  all  bountifully  endowed  by  gov- 
ernment, while,  for  the  benefit  of  the  profession  to 
which  the  great  mass  of  the  people  belong,  there  is  no 
board  formed,  no  school-house  raised,  nor  bounty  for 
its  amelioration  or  encouragement  ofifered.  Is  it  neg- 
lected by  our  rulers  because  it  is  less  useful,  or  needs 


148  ON    FARM-YARD    MANAGEMENT. 

less  help  than  others  ?  It  has,  to  be  sure,  by  its  own 
life-supporting  power,  felled  the  forest  of  the  west,  and 
converted  the  howling  wilderness  into  fertile  fields  ; 
but  it  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  rendering  us  inde- 
pendent of  other  nations  for  the  very  staff  of  life. 
The  fact  alone  that  bread  stuffs  to  a  large  amount 
were  lately  imported  from  Nova  Scotia  and  elsewhere, 
would  saem.  to  call  upon  the  government  in  the  loudest 
terms  to  embrace  the  patriotic  and  popular  measure  of 
encouraging  agriculture.  Individual  enterprise  has 
done  much  for  the  cause,  by  disseminating  among  us, 
by  means  of  periodicals,  the  results  of  experiments  and 
good  advice  in  every  department  of  farming.  But 
these  means  of  information  are  very  limited  in  their 
circulation.  The  attachment  to  old  habits,  the  dislike 
to  book-farming,  and  the  utter  ignorance  of  what  is 
going  on  in  the  agricultural  world,  are  also  serious 
drawbacks  to  improvement,  which  it  is  feared  nothing 
can  remedy  but  the  formation  of  agricultural  societies 
in  every  county  of  the  state,  under  the  patronage  of 
the  government. 

Under  such  a  system,  the  results  of  good  farming 
and  an  improved  state  of  culture  would  be  brought 
home  to  every  man.  Knowledge  would  be  more 
generally  diffused,  and  great  improvements  consequent- 
ly made  in  every  branch  of  rural  economy.  Discove- 
ries in  agriculture  are  continually  making,  and  must 
continue  to  be  made  ad  infinitum,  for  no  limits  can  be 
assigned  to  the  capabilities  of  the  earth  in  producing 
the  necessaries  as  well  as  the  luxuries  of  life.  There 
seems  no  end  to  the  improvement  of  the  qualities  and 
perfections  of  domestic  animals,  yet  how  few  of  our 
common  farmers  are  aware  of  these  facts  !  They  know 
little  or  nothing  of  the  principles  of  vegetation,  or  of 
the  management  and  effect  of  the  different  kinds  of 
manure ;  nor  have  they  any  very  clear  ideas  on  the 
subject  of  breeding  the  different  kinds  of  domestic 
animals. 

Until  a  spirit  of  emulation  is  ai'oused,  by  means  of 


149 

agricultural  societies,  this  state  of  things  must  continue. 
To  get  lip  such  a  spirit  has  been  and  is  the  aim  of 
the  agricultural  society  of  this  state.  It  has  thus  far 
struggled  through  a  feeble  existence,  upheld  alone  by 
the  exertions  of  a  few  s[)iri(ed  individuals,  headed  by 
the  patriotic  and  intelligent  editor  of  the  Cultivator. 
Under  better  auspices  than  we  have  yet  had  cause  to 
boast  of,  the  society  might  flourish  and  be  productive 
of  incalculable  good  ;  but  unless  a  favorable  ear  is 
turned  to  our  petitions  for  aid  to  the  cause,  there  is 
reason  to  fear  that,  after  this  meeting,  it  will  be  ad- 
journed to  meet  no  more. 

W.  Aug.  S.  North,  Chairman. 


[From  Hitchcock's  Geology.] 

SOILS,  THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE. 

Before  proceeding  to  exhibit  details  respecting  the 
soils  of  Massachusetts,  it  will  be  necessary  to  state  my 
views  respecting  the  origin  and  nature  of  soils  iu 
general,  and  the  principles  on  which  they  may  be 
clasiT'ified. 

All  geologists  and  chemists  agree  in  regarding  soils 
as  the  result  of  the  abrasion,  disintegration,  and  decom- 
position of  rocks,  with  the  addition  of  certain  saline, 
vegetable,  and  animal  substances.  Ever  since  the  de- 
position of  rocks,  various  agents  have  been  operating 
upon  them  to  wear  them  down,  to  cause  them  to 
crumble  or  disintegrate,  and  often  to  decompose  them 
into  their  proximate  or  ultimate  principles,  while  they 
have  been  constantly  receiving  vegetable  and  animal 
substances  with  soluble  salts.  The  earthy  portions, 
however,  always  constitute  by  far  the  largest  part  ; 
and  hence,  if  Vv'e  know  the  composition  of  the  rocks 
whence  they  were  derived,  we  shall  knov/  the  earthy 


150  SOILS,    THEIR    ORIGIN    AND    NATURE. 

and  metallic  constituents  of  the  soil.  Now  we  find  that 
nearly  all  the  rocks  which  exist  in  large  quantity  are 
composed  chiefly  of  silica,*  alumina,!  lime,  and  oxide 
of  iron ;  and  these  are.  the  ingredients  that  are  found 
almost  invariably  in  soils.  Magnesia  is  also  usually 
present  in  small  quantity  ;  as  is  also  manganese  in  the 
soils  of  New  England.  Silica  is  in  the  largest  quantity, 
both  in  the  rocks  and  the  soils  ;  alumina  next  ;  while 
the  other  ingredients  are  in  much  smaller  proportion. 
I  ought  also  to  add  potassa  and  soda,  Avhich  are  very 
widely  diffused,  though  not  usually  in  large  quantity. 
To  give  a  numerical  statement,  derived  from  numerous 
analyses,  such  rocks  as  most  of  those  in  New  England 
contain  sixty-six  per  cent,  of  silica,  sixteen  per  cent,  of 
alumina,  six  or  seven  percent,  of  potassa,  five  per  cent, 
of  oxide  of  iron,  and  of  lime  and  magnesia  a  much  less 
quanty ;  and  the  composition  of  our  soils  will  probably 
be  found  to  correspond  very  nearly  with  these  numbers, 
with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  potassa,  which  may 
have  in  a  good  measure  disappeared  by  the  operation  of 
vegetation. 

Classification  of  Soils.  The  above  ingredients 
are  combined  in  different  proportions  in  the  different 
rocks,  so  as  to  constitute  several  sorts.  Hence  we 
should  expect,  and  in  fact  fiud,  a  corresponding  differ- 
ence in  the  soils  resulting  from  their  decomposition. 
Indeed,  with  some  exceptions,  the  geologist  is  able  to 
ascertain  the  nature  of  the  rock  from  the  character  of 
the  soil  that  covers  it.  And  I  apprehend  that  it  will 
not  be  dilficult  to  point  out  the  characteristics  of  the 
soils  derived  from  the  different  rock  formations  of 
Massachusetts,  so  that  they  can  be  distinguished  by 
those  not  familiar  with  practical  geology.  This 
geological  classification  is  the  only  one  which  I  shall 
attempt  to  give  of  our  soils  ;  and  this  seems  to  me  all 
that  is  necessary  or  useful  in  addition  to  the  common 

*  Sandy.  t  Clayey. 


151 

division  into  sandy,  clayey,  loamy,  calcareous,  &c. 
The  following  list  embraces,  it  appears  to  me,  all  the 
important  varieties  of  soil  in  Massachusetts  : 

1.  Alluvium,  from  rivers. 

''  peaty. 

2.  Tertiary  soil,  argillaceous. 

''  "     sandy. 

3.  Sandstone  soil,  red. 

"  "     gray. 

4.  Graywacke  soil,  conglomerate. 

''  *'     slaty,  gray. 

"  '•'     slaty,  red. 

5.  Clay  slate  soil. 

6.  Limestone  soil,  magnesian. 

"  "     common. 

7.  Mica  slate  soil. 

8.  Talcose  slate  soil. 

9.  Gneiss  soil,  common. 

"        ''     ferruginous. 

10.  Granite  soil. 

11.  Sienite  soil. 

12.  Porphyry  soil. 

13.  Greenstone  soil. 

A  few  paragraphs  of  explanation  will,  I  trust,  render 
these  varieties  of  soil  recognizable. 

In  general,  if  any  one  wishes  to  know  where  to  find 
them,  let  him  look  at  the  geological  map  that  accom- 
panied my  former  report,  and  he  may  conclude  that 
the  different  soils  cover  those  portions  of  the  surface 
that  are  represented  as  occupied  by  the  rocks  from 
which  they  are  derived.  There  is  one  circumstance, 
however,  that  prevents  us  from  considering  the  bound- 
aries of  the  rock  formations  as  perfectly  coincident 
with  those  of  the  soils.  Diluvial  action  has  removed 
nearly  all  the  loose  covering  of  our  rocks  in  a  south- 
erly direction,  often  several  miles,  and  more  or  less 
mingled  the  soils  from  difierent  formations.     Hence, 


152  ON    MANURES,    AND    THEIR 

where  one  formation  lies  north  or  south  of  another  on 
the  map,  we  may  conchitie  that  the  detritus  of  the 
most  northerly  one  has  been  swept  southerly,  or  south- 
easterly, for  several  miles  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the 
rock  ;  and  in  few  cases  does  the  dividing  line  between 
two  formations  so  exactly  coincide  with  the  direction 
of  the  diluvial  current,  that  there  is  no  overlapping  and 
intermingling  of  the  soil.  Where  the  formations  are 
limited  and  irregular,  the  soil  of  whole  townships  is  of 
so  mixed  and  uncertain  a  character,  that  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  refer  it  to  any  of  the  above  divisions  ;  as,  for 
example,  in  Amherst,  Ludlow,  and  several  of  the  towns 
in  Plymouth  county.  In  such  cases,  it  might  perhaps 
be  convenient  to  call  the  soil  diluvial ;  but  I  have  not 
thought  it  important  to  introduce  such  a  variety,  since 
it  can  have  no  constant  characters,  and  since  this  diffi- 
culty is  of  so  limited  a  nature.  In  all  such  cases  it  is 
better  to  regard  the  soil  as  a  compound  of  detritds,  from 
the  rocks  lying  in  the  vicinity  to  the  northward. 


ON  MANURES,  AND  THEIR  APPLICATION  TO  THE  SOIL. 

There  is  much  difference  of  opinion  among  our 
farmers  as  to  the  best  mode  of  applying  their  manures, 
and  this  arises  in  some  degree  from  the  difference  in 
their  soil,  and  the  difference  in  seasons. 

In  wet  seasons  we  lose  but  little  by  placing  them 
near  the  surface  and  covering  them  with  the  harrow : 
in  dry  seasons  we  wish  them  buried  deeper  ;  but,  as  we 
cannot  possibly  tell  what  the  season  will  be,  we  must 
use  our  best  skill  and  judgment. 

A  writer  in  a  late  paper  commends  the  practice  of 
placing  manures  on  the  surface  in  all  cases.  Another 
writer,  last  week,  strenuously  insisted  on  ploughing 
them  in  at  least  one  foot  deep.  He  says,  make  one 
acre  rich  first,  then  take  another,  until  you  go  through 
the  whole. 


APPLICATION    TO    THE    SOIL.  153 

To  us  both  these  rules  ''smell  "  more  of  the  study 
than  of  the  stercoraceous  pile.  Believe  not  every  tale. 
If  one  farmer  happens  to  obtain  a  good  crop  from  sur- 
face manuring  in  a  wet  season,  we  should  not  deduce 
from  this  a  general  rule. 

We  have  sometimes  thought  we  could  not  lose  much 
by  ploughing  in  deep,  under  the  grass  sod,  fresh  or 
long  manures,  as  we  are  persuaded  that,  generally,  the 
valuable  salts  do  not  descend  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
plant.  It  is  true,  there  are  instances  in  which  liquids, 
in  cow-yards,  descend  so  deep  as  to  impregnate  and 
injure  the  water  in  wells  by  their  side ;  but  all  these 
are  cases  where  the  strong  puddle  has  stood,  occasion- 
ally, for  years  :  the  whole  subsoil  has  become  porous, 
and  the  waters  of  the  yard  and  of  the  well  naturally 
mingled  together  and  became  similar. 

We  once  had  a  well  in  porous  loam,  within  sixteen 
feet  of  the  cow-yard  fence  :  the  water  stood  in  the 
yard  more  than  half  the  year,  but  the  well  at  first  was 
not  injured.  In  a  few  years,  however,  the  water  in 
the  well  was  affected  by  the  puddle.  We  removed 
the  fence  of  the  yard  so  as  to  keep  the  cattle  four  rods 
from  it,  and  the  water  of  the  well  again  became  good. 

Now  we  are  far  from  thinking  this  good  proof  that 
we  lose  by  the  descent  of  the  salts  where  there  is 
vegetable  life  to  absorb  or  to  partake  of  them,  or  to  be 
stimulated  by  them.  If  we  fill  a  barrel  half  full  of 
loam,  and  turn  on  this  gradually  a  pailful  of  liquid 
from  the  barn-yard,  the  liquor  leaking  out  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  barrel  will  be  pure  and  limpid. 

Were  it  not  for  this  wise  provision  in  nature,  most 
of  our  wells  would  be  worthless.  The  rain-water  from 
the  surface  is  usually  well  strained  before  it  arrives  at 
the  bottom  of  the  well.  Now  if  you  put  eight  or  ten 
pails  of  water  into  the  barrel  of  loam,  the  last  pailful 
will  not  come  out  pure.  It  will  resemble  the  water 
that  spoiled  our  well. 

Apply  these  experiments  to  our  fields  :  we  have,  on 
14 


154 


ON    MANURES. 


the  average,  forty  inches  of  rain  or  moisture  annually 
from  the  clouds,  say  twenty  during  the  season  of  vege- 
tation. This  falls  on  to  a  coating  of  manure,  not  ex- 
ceeding half  an  inch  thick,  in  any  case  ;  and  generally 
not  exceeding  one  fourth  of  an  inch  in  thickness ;  for 
you  will  find  by  calculation  that  twenty  loads,  or  six 
hundred  bushels  of  loam,  sand,  or  manure,  will  not 
cover  your  acre  one  fourth  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 

Then  consider  your  ground  is  to  be  filled  with 
living  roots,  seizing  and  absorbing  every  particle  that 
is  digestible,  and  what  chance  is  there  for  an  escape 
downwards  of  these  salts  ?  If  our  cup  was  placed  one 
foot  below  the  surface  of  a  field  thus  manured,  its  con- 
tents, after  a  shower,  could  not  be  affected  by  the 
manure  of  the  field. 

Still  we  have  not  proved  that  manure  cannot  be 
placed  too  deep  in  the  soil.  We  are  satisfied  that  it 
may  be.  Manures  of  all  kinds  must  be  well  mingled 
with  the  soil.  If  we  spread  it  green,  and  plough  it 
under  a  greensward,  it  must  lie  there  in  some  degree 
dormant  during  the  summer.  And  we  think  we  can- 
not keep  manures  a  long  time  dormant  without  loss. 
There  may  not  be  much  loss  if  it  is  fine  and  is  well 
buried  under  a  greensward  as  late  as  the  middle  of 
May,  for  the  growing  roots  and  the  green  grass  become 
immediately  active  manures,  and  these  assist  to  hasten 
the  decomposition  of  that  which  was  spread  on. 

On  heaps  of  manure,  placed  under  corn  or  potato 
hills,  there  is  nothing  but  worms  to  operate  —  unless, 
may  be,  the  crows  should  be  kind  enough  to  lend  a 
hand  — and  of  all  practices  this  is  the  most  difficult  of 
advocacy.  We  cannot  hope  to  enrich  our  grounds  and 
prepare  them  for  future  crops,  Avithout  spreading  our 
manures  through  the  field.  The  labor  is  surely  less, 
the  crops  are  generally  better,  and  the  after-crops  are 
always  larger. 

On  the  whole,  when  we  conveniently  can,  we  should 
enlarge  the   quantity  by  adding  loam,  peat,   muck,  or 


ON    SOAKING    SEED-CORN.  155 

any  vegetable  matter  to  the  heap :  let  this  be  large 
enough  to  engender  proper  heat,  and  not  lie  in  the 
mass  after  it  becomes  so  hot  as  to  burn  a  boy's  foot. 
It  should  be  overhauled  until  it  becomes  fine  enough 
to  be  spread  and  mingled  with  the  soil. 

In  light  loams  we  run  less  risk  by  covering  it  deep : 
in  heavy  loams,  and  in  clay,  we  run  a  greater  risk,  and 
there  is  less  need  of  burying  it  deep. 


ON  SOAKING  SEED-CORN. 


Many  make  a  practice  of  soaking  or  steeping  their 
seed-corn  before  planting. 

Some  do  this  to  make  it  vegetate  sooner,  some  to 
infuse  a  tincture  of  nourishment  to  the  plant,  some  to 
keep  it  from  the  crows,  and  some  to  drive  away  the 
worms.  Some  planters  wrap  the  kernel  in  tar  and 
gunpowder,  of  which  latter  article  it  is  said  the  crow 
well  knows  the  use,  and  of  which  the  mere  smell  is 
sufficient,  and  satisfies  without  tasting.  Saltpetre  is 
used  for  the  double  purpose  of  terrifying  the  crow  — 
as  he  knows  we  make  gunpowder  of  it  —  and  of 
stimulating  or  nourishing  the  plant  ;  and,  finally,  a 
steep  in  copperas  has  been  recommended,  long  since, 
as  a  cure-all,  to  drive  away  birds,  and  worms,  and  to 
hasten  vegetation. 

We  have  known  some  sensible  farmers,  who,  after 
they  had  tried  those  several  arts,  dropped  their  seed- 
corn  dry  in  the  earth,  and,  trusting  very  much  to  provi- 
dence to  bring  up  a  live  stalk  from  a  dying  kernel, 
have  realized  most  excellent  crops  of  corn. 

As  to  steeping  the  seed,  we  think  the  practice  quite 
pernicious.  Seeds  that  have  been  steeped  often  fail  to 
vegetate.  If  they  once  become  dry  after  swelling,  they 
are  not  likely  to  start  again.  Seed  coated  in  tar  often 
fails  ;  and  as  to  the  virtue  communicated  to  the  kernel 


156       LIGHT  AND  LOOSE  MOULD  UNDER  STONE  WALLS. 

from  the  saltpetre,  it  must,  in  any  event,  be  very- 
trifling,  not  half  suflicient  to  balance  the  risk  of  losing 
the  seed  by  steeping. 

We  much  doubt  the  propriety  of  using  any  infusion 
or  coating  for  seed-corn.  If  your  ground  be  full  of 
worms,  put  ashes  or  lime  on  the  corn-hill,  as  soon  as  it 
is  planted,  instead  of  increasing  the  number  of  worms 
by  putting  manm-e  in  the  hill.  If  your  ground  is 
suitable,  you  may  have  a  good  crop  without  any  of  this 
quackery  of  steeping. 

None  but  warm  lands  should  ever  be  planted  with 
corn.  Let  the  cold  lands  go  to  grass,  or  to  potatoes, 
that  like  a  cold  bed.  We  shall  not  calculate  on  such 
seasons  as  1816  and  1836.  They  are  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule,  and  we  should  not  be  governed  by  the 
exception. 

Crows  may  be  kept  from  the  field  by  suitable  scare- 
crows ;  not  by  such  things  as  boys  usually  re^r,  that 
will  frighten  ten  horses  to  one  crow.  They  should  be 
made  in  the  image  of  a  man,  which  animal  the  crow 
abhors  as  his  greatest  enemy,  and  always  wishes  to 
avoid.  If  the  image  is  partially  covered  with  brush, 
the  crow  will  be  still  more  shy,  and  will  never  meddle 
with  your  corn,  when  he  thinks  he  is  running  great 
risk  of  his  life. 


LIGHT  AND  LOOSE  MOULD  UNDER  STONE  WALLS. 

At  one  of  our  meetings  in  the  state-house,  last  win- 
ter, we  stated,  as  a  fact  well  known  to  farmers,  that 
the  soil  which  lay  beneath  stone  walls  was  much 
lighter,  generally,  than  any  other.  This  statement 
occasioned  some  surprise,  not,  however,  in  the  minds 
of  experienced  farmers  :  they  knew  it  was  fact. 

We  did  not  attempt  to  give  a  reason  for  this  phe- 
nomenon ;  but,  as  the  statement  caused  some  discussion 


LUCERNE,    OR    FRENCH    CLOVER.  157 

at  the  time,  we  have  since  thought  more  of  the  causes 
that  produce  this  singular  state  of  the  soil  in  such 
situations. 

It  is  ascertained  if  hme  be  spread  on  the  surface  in 
pasture  gromids,  it  gradually  sinks  down  beneath  the 
surface,  so  that  in  a  dozen  years  it  may  be  found  buried 
in  the  soil  several  inches  deep.  A  correspondent  of 
the  N.  E.  Farmer  ascribes  this  to  the  labors  of  insects 
in  the  ground.  Ants  and  other  animals  innumerable 
are  constantly  digging  in  the  earth,  and  it  is  natural 
for  them  to  bring  to  the  surface  their  little  burdens,  as 
we  may  daily  notice  among  the  tribes  of  ants. 

Millions  of  these  animals  are  destroyed  in  the  open 
fields,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  when  they 
obtain  a  shelter  under  flat  rocks,  or  stone  walls,  they 
labor  in  greater  security  and  accomplish  more.  By 
constantly  turning  over  the  particles  they  seek,  the 
lime  and  other  materials  not  relished  by  them  are 
naturally  sunk  deeper  into  the  soil  ;  and  under  walls, 
being  more  protected  from  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather,  they  may  be  supposed  to  multiply  faster, 
and  to  be  continually  undermining  and  rendering 
hghter  the  mould  under  the  centre  of  these  shelters, 
making  these  places  more  accessible  than  others  to  the 
roots  of  the  trees  and  other  plants. 


LUCERNE,  OR  FRENCH  CLOVER. 

We  have  found  this  grass  difficult  of  cultivation.  It 
requires  a  rich  soil,  and  in  that  the  weeds  usually  get 
the  start  the  first  season  and  choke  the  grass.  It  is 
said  to  be  necessary  to  weed  it  by  hand  the  first  season, 
and  afterwards  it  will  take  care  of  itself.  We  once 
cultivated  a  small  patch  of  it,  which  grew  and  yielded 
as  abundantly  as  we  had  expected  from  the  usual  de- 
scriptions given  of  it ;  but  we  have  had  do  success  when 
14* 


158  ROOTS. 

we  sowed  it  with  spring  grain.  We  were  lately  told, 
by  an  Englishman,  that  it  was  common,  in  his  coun- 
try, to  sow  beds  of  it  quite  thick,  and  to  transplant  the 
roots,  when  grown  large,  into  larger  spaces.  We 
should  probably  think  this  too  much  trouble  in  our 
country. 

For  soiling  cattle  that  are  kept  constantly  up,  this 
plant  yields  a  most  abundant  and  nutritious  crop.  It 
may  be  mown  four  or  five  times  in  the  season  ;  and 
we  have  had  patches  that  grew  more  than  two  feet  in 
height  in  a  single  month  after  cutting.  If  Ave  could 
contrive  some  cheap  mode  of  seeding  with  it  we  might 
find  our  account  in  its  cultivation. 


ROOTS,, 

Those  who  plant  carrots,  parsnips,  or  mangel-wurt- 
zet  for  cattle,  should  do  it  in  May,  or  by  the  first  of 
June. 

Ruta  baga  may  be  sown  as  late  as  the  twentieth  of 
June,  and  they  are  more  tender  than  when  sowed  early. 

Some  prefer  one  kind  and  some  another ;  but  much 
must  depend  on  the  soil  and  the  preparation.  Ruta 
baga  will  grow  any  where,  if  the  surface  is  made  rich  ; 
and  they  may  be  sown  where  other  seeds,  that  should 
be  sowed  earlier,  have  failed. 

Carrots  and  parsnips  require  more  care.  To  obtain 
large  crops,  the  soil  should  be  deep  and  thoroughly  dug 
up  or  ploughed  up.  For  field  culture,  the  plough  must 
be  used ;  but  it  is  not  good  to  plough  deep  very  early 
in  the  season.  In  much  of  our  soil,  if  we  plough 
when  the  ground  is  too  wet,  it  becomes  lumps,  that 
remain  hard  nearly  the  whole  summer.  The  plough 
should  not  be  used  until  we  are  ready  to  sow  the  seed, 
or  until  the  latter  part  of  May :  then  the  manure  may 
be  spread  on  and  immediately  ploughed  in.     Wheu 


ROOTS.  159 

we  have  not  a  great  supply  of  manure,  it  is  well  to  save 
some  of  the  finest  to  be  spread  on  after  ploughing,  and 
let  it  be  incorporated  with  the  soil  by  means  of  the 
harrow. 

As  carrot  and  parsnip  seeds  are  very  light,  and  not 
easily  sown,  they  may  be  mixed  with  sand  or  ashes, 
and  be  made  moist  with  water  some  days  before  sow- 
ing. If  the  quantity  of  sand  or  ashes  be  considerable, 
there  will  not  be  much  hazard  in  wetting  the  seed ; 
hut,  in  such  cases,  it  should  be  covered  as  soon  as  it  is 
sown.  One  advantage  derived  from  wetting  the  seed 
is,  it  will  start  up  sooner,  and  be  more  above  the  weeds 
at  the  first  hoeing.  Great  care  should  be  taken  that 
the  rows  be  perfectly  straight,  and  then  we  are  not  so 
liable  to  cut  up  the  small  plants  that  cannot  so  easily 
be  seen. 

As  the  ruta  baga,  or  yellow  turnip,  may  be  sown 
much  later  than  these,  the  ground  may  be  difterently 
prepared.  The  manure  may  be  spread  and  ploughed 
in,  or  harrowed  in,  two  or  three  weeks  before  the  time 
for  sowing  the  seeds  :  then  let  the  ground  be  harrowed 
every  four  or  five  days  until  sowing  time.  Many  of 
the  weeds  will  now  vegetate  and  be  destroyed  by  the 
harrow,  and  much  hand  labor  in  weeding  will  be 
saved. 

The  sugar-beet  wants  a  deep,  rich  soil,  and  for  stock 
may  be  sown  any  time  in  the  month  of  May. 

It  is  hoped  that  many  experiments  will  be  tried  on 
the  raising  of  these  roots  this  season,  and  on  their  com- 
parative value. 

If  we  can  make  our  own  sugar  from  the  beet  by  as 
simple  a  process  as  the  rock-maple  sugar  is  made,  we 
can  easily  supply  ourselves  ;  but,  if  other  articles  of 
subsistence  continue  as  high  as  they  have  done,  we 
must  calculate  what  we  can  raise  to  most  advantage. 

We  want  more  experiments  on  making  sugar  from 
the  sliced  and  dried  beet  before  we  can  enter  largely 
into  the  manufacture. 


160  GREEN    CROPS. 


GREEN    CROPS. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivato?'  : 

SiR^  —  I  have  a  field  that  hes  distant  from  my  barn, 
and  it  has  never  had  a  share  of  my  manure,  though  it 
has  often  contributed  to  supply  my  granary.  As  you 
have  practised  ploughing  in  green  crops  to  enrich  youf 
land,  I  should  like  to  know,  through  the  medium  of 
your  useful  paper,  your  opinion  as  to  the  best  and 
cheapest  mode  of  enriching  it  without  manure. 

Respectfully  yours,         S.  D. 
Wayland,  April  29,  1839. 

If  our  correspondent  wishes  to  devote  his  field  for 
one  whole  season  to  green  crops  in  order  to  raise  his 
land,  and  the  same  is  not  tough  swarded  —  not  half 
seeded,  as  we  see  many  of  our  fields  that  have  been 
run  too  hard  with  grain  without  manure  —  the  quick- 
est way  to  bring  up  such  land  without  manure,  and 
without  much  cost,  is  to  plough  it  about  the  twelfth  of 
May,  turning  in  nicely  all  the  grass  and  stubble  :  sow 
on  one  bushel  of  buckwheat  to  an  acre,  and  cover  it 
with  a  harrow.  In  six  weeks  the  wheat  will  be  in  full 
bloom :  roll  it  down  flat,  plough  it  in,  and  sow  on 
another  bushel  of  buckwheat  as  before.  In  the  latter 
part  of  August  roll  this  down  as  before,  cover  it  com- 
pletely with  the  plough,  harrow  it,  then  sow  your  grass- 
seeds  while  the  furrow  is  fresh,  and  cover  that  with  a 
brush-harrow. 

Sow  no  clover  till  snow  comes  :  then,  if  you  intend 
the  land  for  pasture,  sow  southern  clover  and  Dutch 
honeysuckle  ;  if  for  mowing,  sow  northern  clover. 
This  will  not  come  to  head  much  until  after  haying  is 
over  ;  but  it  will  furnish  fall  feed,  and  will  assist  much 
in  keeping  out  from  your  new-sown  land  weeds  and 
noxious  plants,  that  will  intrude  where  nothing  but 
herds-grass  and  red-top  grass  are  sown.     Clover  serves 


GREEN    CROPS.  161 

to  enrich,  as  it  has  a  broad  top,  also  a  tap-root,  that 
dies  in  two  years,  and  rots  in  the  ground  and  turns  to 
manure. 

The  expense  of  preparing  an  acre  of  plain  light  land 
thus  may  be,  — 

Three  ploughings, $^6  00 

Two  bushels  buckwheat, 2  00 

Sowing  and  harrowing  in  twice, 1  00 

Rolling  down, 50 

S9~50' 

Nine  dollars  and  a  half  will,  in  many  cases,  cover  the 
whole  expense  of  preparing  the  land  for  the  grass-seed. 

Now  you  have  turned  in  three  green  crops,  and  your 
land,  if  it  was  suitable  for  buckwheat,  will  be  richer 
than  if  coated  with  five  cords,  or  twenty  loads,  of  ma- 
nure. The  cost  of  twenty  loads  of  manure,  in  your 
town,  Avould  not  be  less  than  $20,  and  the  hauling  and 
spreading  would  be  $5  more  =  $25.  Then  you  must 
plough  once,  $2  =  $27.  To  the  $9  50  we  must  add 
the  charge  of  the  loss  of  the  use  of  the  land  one  sum- 
mer ;  but,  as  four  or  five  acres  of  such  reduced  land 
would  be  required  to  pasture  one  cow,  we  cannot  call 
this  loss  more  than  $2.  Then  our  account  stands 
$11  50  for  green-crop  manuring,  and  $27  for  barn- 
yard manuring. 

If  the  green  crops  should  prove  one  half  as  bene- 
ficial to  your  land  as  the  purchased  manure,  you  will 
thus  be  a  gainer  by  preferring  these  crops ;  but  we 
think  we  are  warranted-,  from  our  own  experience  on 
many  acres,  in  repeating  that  the  three  green  crops, 
well  ploughed  in,  will  prove  fully  equal  to  twenty 
loads  of  manure  on  an  acre. 

If  your  land  be  distant  from  the  barn,  or  from  the 
purchased  manure,  the  diiference  of  the  expense  will 
be  still  greater.  But  you  cannot  often  purchase  ma- 
nure at  any  price,  and  you  must  resort  to  some  kinds 
of  green  crops,  or  suffer  your  distant  lands  to  lie  sterile. 

Other  green  crops  are  often  recommended,  as  clover. 


162  THE    HORSE. 

or  oats ;  but  on  your  soil  clover  will  not  grow  without 
first  manuring,  and  oats  will  not  give  you  so  much  as 
buckwheat ;  then  oats  are  a  greater  exhauster,  as  their 
tops  are  small  in  proportion  to  their  roots. 

If  yours  be  pasture  land,  and  you  cannot  well  spare 
it  a  whole  summer,  and  do  not  wish  to  fence  it  oflf,  you 
can  plough  up  any  part  of  it  about  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber, and  seed  down  immediately.  In  this  way  you  will 
gradually  raise  your  land  every  time  you  plough  in  the 
growing  grass.  —  Ed. 


THE  HORSE. 

Though  we  have  now  machinery  that  surpasses  this 
animal  in  speed,  we  are  not  yet  ready  to  abandon  him 
and  set  him  adrift.  Other  people  may  prefer  the  camel, 
or  the  mule,  but  New  England  farmers  know  of  no 
servant  to  be  compared  with  the  horse. 

For  the  heavy  draught,  or  for  the  race,  for  a  ride  of 
pleasure,  or  for  a  tour  into  the  rough  interior  of  our 
country,  the  horse  is  our  best  companion  and  helper. 
We  could  hardly  estimate  his  worth  but  by  his  loss. 

This  animal  is  often  abused  through  wantonness,  or 
carelessness  ;  but  still  more  often  injured  for  want  of 
due  consideration  of  the  proper  mode  of  treating  him. 

Within  a  few  years  it  has  been  customary  for  drivers 
of  stages  in  our  neighborhood  to  give  their  horses  meal 
in  their  water  when  they  only  stopped  for  a  short  time 
in  the  middle  of  the  day.  It  was  then  not  uncommon 
for  horses,  when  driven  no  faster  than  at  present,  to  fall 
suddenly  dead  in  the  harness.  On  opening  the  animal, 
the  meal  would  be  found  undigested,  and  formed  into 
a  hard  cake  in  the  stomach. 

We  believe  this  practice  is  now  wholly  abandoned. 
There  is  a  very  prevalent  idea  that  it  is  injurious  to 
give  grain  to  the  animal  when  he  is  warm.     Now  we 


THE    HORSE.  163 

have  never  known  any  injury  to  arise  from  this  prac- 
tice. There  is  no  more  danger  of  injury  to  the  horse 
than  to  ourselves  by  eating  a  hearty  meal  when  warm. 
And  who  ever  heard  of  a  man  kilhng  himself  with  a 
hearty  dinner,  because  he  eat  it  when  he  was  fatigued 
or  heated  ? 

It  is  hard  driving,  violent  exercise,  after  eating 
hearty  food,  that  causes  pain,  and  often  death. 

Let  a  man  but  reflect  on  what  has  proved  injurious 
to  himself,  and  he  will  rationally  conclude  what  treat- 
ment is  most  likely  to  injure  his  beast.  Let  him  eat  a 
hearty  meal,  then  run,  or  use  any  violent  exercise  im- 
mediately after,  and  he  will  be  at  no  loss  in  conjectur- 
ing what  must  be  the  danger  of  furiously  driving  a 
beast  after  a  hearty  dinner. 

It  is  hard  driving  immediately  after  eating  grain 
that  kills  the  horse  ;  and  we  venture  to  assert  that  not 
an  instance  can  be  shown  in  which  he  has  sustained 
injury  from  eating  grain  merely  because  he  was  warm. 
People  should  reflect  and  reason  more  on  this  subject. 

Horses  that  travel  and  labor  violently,  as  in  stages 
and  fast  chaises,  should  eat  their  grain  at  night.  When 
laboring  moderately  on  a  farm,  it  is  not  so  material 
when  their  heartiest  food  is  given  ;  for  horses  are  not 
hable  to  be  injured  in  any  gear,  when  they  are  only 
driven  on  the  walk. 

But  we  have  known  many  men,  prudent  in  most 
matters,  yet  guilty  of  stuffing  their  horses  with  grain 
in  the  morning,  just  before  starting  on  a  journey  ! 
They  gave  no  grain  the  night  before,  reserving  for  the 
starting  hour  the  heartiest  food  for  the  beast ! 

On  a  journey  we  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of 
giving  our  horse  his  grain  at  night.  We  give  it  as 
soon  as  he  is  rubbed  down  and  put  to  the  stable,  and 
we  have  never  found  it  injured  him. 

How  absurd  to  let  your  horse  stand  for  hours,  after 
a  day  of  violent  exercise,  to  chop  up  his  own  fodder, 
and  attempt  to  appease  his  hunger  on  hay,  often  poor 
hay,  not  fit  to  be  fed  out  to  young  cattle. 


164      THE  GARDEN  AN  INDEX  OF  THE  MIND. 

Give  the  horse  half  a  bushel  of  oats,  or  one  peck  of 
corn  —  if  he  has  been  used  to  grain  —  as  soon  as  you 
lead  him  into  the  stable,  and  he  will  fill  himself  in  one 
hour  or  two,  and  be  willing  to  lie  down  and  enjoy  a 
nap,  even  before  you  retire  to  rest  yourself. 

In  any  part  of  the  country,  if  you  see  the  grain  put 
into  the  manger,  you  may  be  pretty  sure  the  hostler 
has  not  forgotten  his  duty. 


THE  GARDEN  AN  INDEX  OF  THE  MIND. 

Some  old  sage  writer  has  said,  if  you  desire  to 
judge  correctly  of  the  character  of  a  man's  mind,  go 
into  his  garden,  and  observe  how  much  order  or  dis- 
order, how  much  neatness  or  negligence,  appears  there. 
We  suspect  there  is  more  in  this,  as  a  test  of  a  man's 
mental  character,  than  there  is  in  phrenology  or  physi- 
ognomy. vSolomon  has  said,  "  I  went  by  the  field  of 
the  slothful^  and  by  the  vineyard  of  the  man  void  of 
understanding ;  and,  lo,  it  was  all  grown  over  with 
thorns,  and  nettles  had  covered  the  face  thereof;  and 
the  stone  wall  thereof  was  broken  down."  Such  was 
the  phrenology  of  Solomon's  time.  He  considered  a 
slovenly  vineyard  or  garden  good  evidence  of  a 
slovenly  mind,  or  a  mind  void  of  understanding. 

You  may  depend  upon  it,  when  you  see  a  man's 
fields  and  gardens  laid  out  with  good  order  and  taste, 
and  notice  the  neatness  of  its  cultivation,  that  that 
man's  mind  is  like  a  well-arranged  library  :  every  class 
of  books  has  its  general  department,  and  every  book 
its  appropriate  place  within  that  department.  So  with 
that  mental  library-room,  the  brain.  A  good  garden  is 
an  evidence  that  all  his  knowledge  is  reduced  to  sys- 
tem, and  is  readily  at  command.  His  head  is  not  full 
of  cobwebs,  but  is  as  neat  as  a  parlor  swept  and  gar- 
nished. The  external  will  generally  correspond  with 
the  internal.     A  man's  plans  will  appear  in  his  opera- 


MARL  :  ITS  NATURE  AND  EFFECTS.        165 

tions.  His  theory  may  be  judged  by  his  practice. 
The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.  It  is  on  these  univer- 
sally conceded  principles  that  the  order  and  taste 
which  prevail  in  a  garden  are  to  be  regarded  as  an 
evidence  of  the  condition  of  the  garden  of  the  mind. 
He  who  contrives  to  produce  much  fruit  by  cultivating 
the  earth,  maybe  expected  to  be  a  valuable  man  in  the 
community  by  the  fruits  of  his  judgment,  counsel,  and 
philanthrophy.  If  he  allows  no  noxious  weeds  to 
choke  the  valuable  plants,  equally  careful  may  he  be 
presumed  to  be  that  no  bad  principles  are  allowed  to 
obtain  an  ascendency  over  the  virtuous  sentiments  of 
his  soul.  Such  men  may  generally  be  trusted  ;  and,  if 
the  test  we  have  suggested  were  adopted  as  a  rule  for 
selecting  citizens  as  magistrates  and  rulers,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  we  should  have  better  order  in 
government,  and  less  of  the  confusion  of  party  strife 
than  we  now  have.  Too  many  of  our  moral  and  po- 
litical vineyards  are  grown  over  to  thorns,  and  the  de- 
fences of  virtue  and  patriotism  are,  like  stone  walls, 
broken  down.  In  the  general  rush  and  scramble  for 
the  fruits  of  office,  the  plants  and  trees  which  produce 
them  are  too  often  ill-treated,  bruised,  trodden  down, 
and  well  nigh  destroyed.  A  good  cultivator  does  not 
cultivate  any  thing  in  this  slovenly  style. — Maine 
Cultivator. 


MARL:  ITS  NATURE  AND  EFFECTS. 

The  following  extract  from  Professor  Rogers'  late 
Geographical  Report  will  give  our  agricultural  readers 
some  more  distinct  idea  of  this  remarkable  and  recent- 
ly talked  of  manure,  which  abounds  in  Monmouth  and 
other  counties  of  New  Jersey. 

Marl,  or  green  mineral,  loses  nothing  of  its  potency 
by  a  long  exposure,  even  of  years,  to  water  and  the 
15 


166       MARL  :  ITS  NATURE  AND  EFFECTS. 

atmosphere  ;  in  other  words,  it  is  not  dissolved,  or  de- 
composed, or  changed,  by  the  ordinary  atmospher 
agents  which  react  so  powerfully  upon  many  other 
minerals  ;  and  consequently  we  are  to  regard  it  as  near- 
ly impossible  to  effect  its  decomposition  by  the  vital 
power  of  their  organs,  and  imbibe  a  portion  of  its  con- 
stituents. 

"  Mr.  Wooley  manured  a  piece  of  land  in  the  propor- 
tion of  two  hundred  loads  of  good  stable-manure  to 
the  acre,  applying  upon  an  adjacent  tract  of  the  same 
soil  his  marl,  in  the  ratio  of  about  twenty  loads  per 
acre.  The  crops,  which  were  clover  and  timothy,  were 
much  the  heaviest  upon  the  section  which  had  received 
the  marl ;  and  there  was  this  additional  fact  greatly  in 
favor  of  the  fossil  manure  over  the  putrescent  one, 
that  the  soil  enriched  by  it  was  entirely  free  of  weeds, 
while  the  stable-manure  rendered  its  own  crop  very 
foul. 

"  This  being  an  experiment,  an  extravagantly  large 
dressing  of  manure  was  employed,  but  not  exceeding 
the  usual  average  application  :  more  than  twenty  loads 
of  marl  surpassed  what  was  necessary  for  it. 

"  Experience  has  already  shown  that  land,  once 
amply  marled,  retains  its  fertility,  with  little  diminution, 
for  at  least  ten  or  twelve  years,  if  care  be  had  not  to 
crop  it  too  severely  ;  while,  with  all  practical  precau- 
tions, the  stable-manure  must  be  renewed  at  least  three 
times  in  that  interval,  to  maintain  in  the  soil  a  corre- 
sponding degree  of  vigor. 

"  A  specimen  of  the  marl  from  Thorp's  lowest  layer 
yielded  me,  after  reiterated  trials,  uniformly  about  the 
following  for  its  composition  : 

In  100  Grains. 

Silica, 43.40 

Protoxide  of  iron, .  21.60 

Alunrni, 6.40 

Lime, 10.40 

Potash, 14.48 

Water, - 4.40 

99.68 


MARL  :  ITS  NATURE  AND  EFFECTS.        167 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  extracts  we  add  a 
few  facts  and  experiments,  collected  from  the  gentle- 
men whose  names  are  used  : 

Messrs.  Tunis  and  John  B.  Forman  say  that  they 
have  used  Squancum  marl  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred 
bushels  to  the  acre,  on  very  poor,  worn  out,  cold  clay 
land :  the  product  of  the  first  year  was  thirty  bushels 
of  buckwheat  to  the  acre  ;  and  the  second  year  (it 
being  sowed  the  year  before  with  clover  and  herd)  it 
cut  a  ton  or  more  of  good  hay  per  acre,  after  which 
about  one  hundred  bushels  of  marl  per  acre  were 
scattered  over  the  seed,  and  it  now  yields  two  tons  of 
good  hay  to  the  acre. 

They  have  also  resuscitated  mowing-ground  after  it 
had  become  too  poor  to  produce  a  crop,  by  spreading 
one  hundred  bushels  of  marl  per  acre  over  the  sod,  and 
the  effect  was  to  mellow  the  soil,  and  produce  two 
tons  of  hay  to  the  acre  :  the  hay  produced  was  of  a 
superior  quality,  and  free  from  weeds.  One  hundred 
bushels  of  marl  to  the  acre  of  land,  so  poor  as  to  have 
been  considered  useless,  will  raise  a  crop  of  from 
twelve  to  twenty  bushels  of  rye  per  acre,  and  leave  a 
fine  sod  of  white  clover.  From  three  pints  to  two 
quarts  of  marl  per  hill  of  potatoes  (the  hills  three  feet 
apart  on  poor  ground)  has  produced  from  two  hundred 
to  two  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  per  acre. 

They  have  found  the  marl  a  superior  manure  for 
turnips  and  garden  truck  in  general.  The  eff*ect  of 
marling  lands  planted  with  apple-trees  is  astonishing 
in  improving  the  trees  and  fruit.  They  have  known 
marl  to  be  spread  on  a  bog-meadow,  and  to  cause 
double  the  quantity  of  superior  hay  to  be  produced. 
A  neighbor  of  theirs,  a  few  years  since,  sowed  out  of 
a  basket  about  one  hundred  bushels  of  buckwheat. 

Dr.  Forman  states  that,  two  or  three  years  ago,  he 
broke  up  a  small  piece  of  land,  which  he  for  forty 
years  had  considered  too  poor  to  plough,  and  applied 


168  CORRESPONDENCE. 

one  hundred  bushels  of  marl  per  acre-:  the  laud  pro- 
duced a  good  crop  of  rye,  and  has  cut  a  ton  of  clover 
hay  per  acre  every  year  since.  He  also  states  that 
Squancum  marl  was  first  used  about  thirty  years  ago, 
by  Derick  Chamberlain,  under  the  name  oi  creek  mud  : 
it  caused  the  piece  of  land  thus  manured  to  produce 
double  the  quantity  it  had  done  before,  and  the  effect 
on  the  land  is  still  visible.  — Franklin  Mercury. 


CORRESPONDENCE, 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator  : 

Sir,  —  I  have  more  than  fifty  acres  of  tillage  and 
mowing  lands,  and  have  as  yet  been  unable  to  make 
the  whole  as  productive  as  I  could  wish.  1  keep,  on 
the  average,  twenty-five  head  of  cattlcj  including  one 
horse  and  one  yoke  of  oxen. 

Some  of  my  neighbors  advise  me  to  purchase  ma- 
nure, and  raise  grain  and  fatten  pork  for  the  market ; 
other  tell  me  to  raise  little  grain,  and  depend  on  roots 
for  fattening ;  some  advise  me  to  make  one  acre  rich 
this  year,  and  plough  in  my  manure  one  foot  deep ; 
then  take  another  acre  next  year.  At  this  rate,  I  must 
be  fifty  years  in  going  through  the  whole,  and  I  fear 
my  first  acre  would  again  become  poor  before  I  gol 
through  with  the  process. 

I  have  several  acres  of  sandy  loam  land,  and  such 
will  not  hold  its  richness  long  without  a  new  applica- 
tion of  something  or  other,  and  I  have  not  much  ma- 
nure to  spare  after  planting  my  best  land  with  corn 
and  potatoes.  In  truth,  before  I  can  half  go  through 
with  manuring  and  enriching,  my  first  piece  suffers  for 
the  want  of  another  dressing. 

I  must  have  g^rain  ai^d  potatoes,  or  go  without  pork  j 


CORRESPONDENCE.  169 

and  then  I  have  but  very  little  manure  for  my  grass- 
lands, the  most  profitable  lands  that  I  possess.  Can 
you  tell  me  how  I  can  manage  to  make  the  whole 
farm  profitable  ?  I  cannot  buy  manure  ;  there  is  none 
here  for  sale.  Yours  respectfully,  D.  H. 

Meclfteld,  Maij  20,  1839. 

We  advise  our  Medfield  correspondent  not  to  till  too 
much  land  in  a  season.  If  all  the  manure  is  applied 
yearly  to  exhausting  crops,  there  is  not  much  prospect 
of  rendering  the  farm  richer. 

It  seems  to  us  ridiculous  to  make  one  acre  of  land 
rich  a  foot  in  depth,  and  suffer  most  of  the  farm  to  go 
without  dressing.  It  is  also  wrong  to  spend  the  months 
of  April,  May,  and  June  in  tending  numerous  acres  for 
small  crops.  There  is  some  limit  to  making  manures 
on  any  farm ;  though  no  doubt  most  farmers  may 
double  its  quantity  and  value  by  proper  attention  and 
labor.  Now,  instead  of  tilUng  ten  acres  in  a  year  — 
as  most  farmers  do  who  have  fifty  acres  of  tillage-land 
—  we  would  not  till  more  than  five :  then  nearly  half 
the  months  of  May  and  June  may  be  employed  in  en- 
riching the  farm  for  future  use.  Half  the  months  of 
May  and  June  !  What  a  chance  for  making  improve- 
ment !  Had  we  Mr.  H's  farm,  we  would  sow  three  or 
four  acres  in  buckwheat,  and  reap  sixty  bushels  the 
present  season  for  fattening  pork  or  beef  It  would 
take  five  days  to  do  this  well.  If  there  was  much 
sorrel  on  the  ground,  we  should  like  to  plough  before 
the  seed  was  ripe.  The  buckwheat  may  be  sown  about 
the  20th  of  June,  one  bushel  to  the  acre  ;  sow  also 
with  it  one  bushel  of  winter  rye  :  mow  the  buckwheat 
about  September  1st,  and  thresh  it  out  immediately 
before  it  gathers  moisture,  and  we  have  food'  to  com- 
mence the  fatting  of  our  pork  early.  Next  year,  on 
the  20th  of  June,  the  rye  will  be  two  ieeX  high  :  roll 
it  down  flat,  and  with  a  plough  —  a  real  plough,  that 
will  turn  the  sod  and  cover  all  up  —  bury  this  rye,  and 
15* 


170  CORRESPONDENCE. 

SOW  half  a  bushel  more  of  rye  :  the  plough  may  go  a 
little  deeper  than  on  the  first  ploughing,  say  one  inch 
deeper  each  year,  until  we  get  a  soil  seven  inches  ia 
depth.  Thus  we  would  spend  five  days  for  sixty 
bushels  of  wheat,  instead  of  twenty-five  days  for  sixty 
bushels  of  corn. 

Then,  instead  of  putting  all  our  green  manure  on 
corn  and  potato  land,  we  would  save  the  coarsest  of  it, 
and,  with  that  mixed  with  peat  muck.,  soil  from  the 
roadside,  soil  in  the  fieldside,  where  iJt  had  accumu- 
lated, and  with  any  other  vegetable  or  animal  matter, 
make  a  compost  heap,  to  be  ready  for  use  by  the  last  of 
August.  By  the  aid  of  this  heap  we  would  renovate 
not  less  than  half  a  dozen  acres  of  this  grass-land, 
which  has  lain  too  long  without  ploughing,  and  pre- 
pare it  for  the  next  year  for  grass. 

The  process,  is  simple  and  easy :  plough  well,  lay 
the  furrow  flat,  roll  down  close,  so  that  the  harrow 
shall  not  tear  it  up,  put  a  dozen  loads  of  this  compost 
to  the  acre,  harrow  lengthwise  of  the  furrow,  then  a 
little  diagonally,  so  as  to  mix  the  manure  in  thorough- 
ly, and  seed  down  with  one  peck  of  herds-grass  and 
one  bushel  of  red-top  to  the  acre.  In  the  winter,  some 
clover-seed-  may  be  sown  on  the  snow. 

In  this  manner  we  would  proceed  until  \ye  had  gone 
overall  the  plough-land,  and  got  it  into  good  grass; 
and  thus  we  would  have,  with  that  which  was  in  hoed 
crops,  nine  or  ten  acres  of  new-sowed  mow-land  each 
year  ;  and,  when  we  had  been  through  the  lots,  we 
would  begin  again,  and  one  half  the  manure  at  first 
used  would  be  sufficient  for  this  second  course  ;  for 
the  old  sods  would  be  rotten,  and  aid  the  new  appli- 
ance :  thus  twice  the  number  of  acres  may  be  reno- 
vated each  year  in  this  second  course.  Or,  if  only  six 
acres  were  taken  in  hand  each  year,  they  may  be  made 
twice  as  rich  as  in  the  first  course  ;  and  every  renewal 
of  this  process  will  make  the  land  richer,  because  grass 
is  not  an  exhauster. 


PEAT-MEADOWS.  171 

Thus,  wherever  the  plough  can  go,  as  on  these 
plains,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  enriching  the  whole 
farm,  and  that  without  purchasing  any  manure,  or 
laying  out  so  much  labor  as  is  common  in  planting  to 
excess. 

It  is  presumed  we  need  not  remind  our  friend  H. 
that,  as  he  advances  in  this  process,  his  means  are  con- 
stantly increasing;  he  is  doubling  the  amount  of  his 
hay,  and  of  course  of  his  stock  and  of  his  manure. 
Hay  produces  manure,  and  manure  produces  hay. 
Julius  Caesar  could  less  happily  say,  "  Money  procured 
him  soldiers,  and  soldiers  procured  him  money." 

We  know  that  plough-lands  may  clieaply  be  en- 
riched in  this  mode,  and  we  are  still  continuing  the 
process.  — <■  Ed. 


PEAT-MEADOWS. 


As  planting  is  now  over,  some  farmers  will  begin  to 
think  of  their  peat-swamps.  We  have  tried  various 
modes  to  bring  these  into  English  grass,  and  have 
never  failed  to  do  it  when  we  persevered. 

On  commencing  our  editorial  course,  last  January, 
we  resolved  not  to  attempt  to  lead  our  brother  farmers 
into  any  expensive  process  of  farming  which  might 
never  yi^ld  an  adequate  return. 

We  well  know  it  is  quite  easy  to  recommend  the 
purchase  of  manures,  the  making  of  compost  heaps,  the 
raising  of  grain  to  supply  the  whole  State,  &c.  &c.  It 
is  always  much  easier  to  show  us  how  to  lay  out  ten 
dollars  on  a  farm,  than  to  show  us  how  to  get  a  return 
of  ten  for  an  outlay  of  five. 

As  our  search  is  after  truth,  we  shall  ever  admit 
into  our  columns  the  opinions  and  the  statements  of 
others  who  may  think  difi"erently  from  us ;  for  these 
opinions  thus  admitted  we  are  not  accountable  ,•  and 


172  PEAT-MEADOWS. 

we  wish  our  patrons  to  take  them  for  just  what  they 
are  worth.  But  there  is  another  class  of  opinions  for 
which  we  feel  ourselvres  responsible  ;  and  we  must  beg 
our  readers  to  distinguish  our  own  recommendations 
from  the  theories  of  others  which  are  admitted  into  our 
columns. 

On  the  subject  of  reclaiming  peat-land,  and  bog- 
meadows,  we  have  had  many  years  of  personal  expe- 
rience, and  it  is  our  wish  that  our  readers  may  avail 
themselves  of  the  advantages  to  be  derived  both  from 
our  failures  and  from  our  success. 

Our  first  attempt  to  raise  English  grass  on  a  low  peat- 
meadow  was  in  1826.  Three  of  us  joined  together 
in  the  purchase  of  eight  acres  of  peat-land  lying  in  the 
centre  of  the  town  of  Framingham.  Major  B.  Wheeler 
and  John  Ballard,  2d,  were  our  partners  in  the  pur- 
chase. 

When  we  first  made  known  our  purchase  and  our 
object,  we  were  laughed  to  scorn  by  many  of  the  in- 
habitants. We  forgive  every  one  of  them,  for  they 
have  since  confessed  their  error,  and  are  ever  ready  to 
applaud  the  advances  we  have  made  in  cultivation. 
They  were  not  then  aware  of  the  mischiefs  they 
caused  us  by  their  want  of  faith  :  it  was  almost  im- 
possible to  procure  help  to  labor  on  this  meadow :  peo- 
ple required  extra  wages  while  laboring  here,  and,  when 
inquired  of  where  they  had  been  at  work,  they  were 
studious  to  conceal  the  scene  of  their  operations. 
Fortunately  the  purchasers  were  all  skilled  in  the  use 
of  the  bog-hoe,  and  of  the  paring-plough  :  and,  by  taking 
hold  and  setting  the  example,  others  were  at  length 
induced  to  join  them  and  "  to  dig  on  Old  Centre 
meadow,"  because  much  less  unpopular,  after  one 
summer's  trial,  than  at  first. 

We  well  remember  an  expression  of  one  of  the  oldest 
inhabitants,  J.  Maynard,  Esq.  on  this  subject.  He 
said  he  did  not  wish  to  live  any  longer  after  he  should 
see  one  ton  of  good  English  hay  grow  on  Old  Centre 


PEAT-MEADOWS. 


173 


meadow.  He  did  live  many  years  after.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  trustees  of  Framingham  Academy,  which  stood 
on  the  border  of  this  nrieadow,  Dr.  D.  Kellogg,  Rev. 
Mr.  Packard,  and  J.  Maynard,  Esq.  were  present.  Dr. 
Packard  looked  oat  on  the  old  meadow,  and,  seeing  it 
flooded,  inquired  if  it  was  dammed.  ''  Yes,"  said 
Maynard,  "and  it  always  has  been  ever  since  I 
knew  it." 

This  meadow  was  so  miry  in  the  centre,  that  we 
could  easily  sink  a  rail  eleven  feet  long  endwise  out  of 
sight.  Our  first  business  was  to  drain  off  the  water. 
We  drained  it  off  one  foot  and  a  half  below  the  surface. 
We  then  commenced  the  paring  and  burning  system. 
This  paring  is  performed  by  hoes,  sometimes  assisted 
by  a  paring-plough.  When  the  meadow  will  bear  up 
oxen,  a  paring-plough  facilitates  the  operation.  Such  a 
plough  has  a  wide  share,  say  one  foot  and  a  half, 
which  branches  out  in  a  wing  on  each  side.  It  has  no 
mould-plate,  and  does  not  turn  the  fiuTow  over.  It 
only  cuts  the  turf  in  slips,  and  suffers  it  to  lie  to  bear 
the  team  up;  then  with  the  hoes  the  sods  are  easily 
turned  over  to  dry.  When  the  paring-plough  is  in 
good  order,  one  yoke  of  oxen  will  draw  it  through  a 
strong  hassock.  The  plough  has  a  sharp  coulter,  like 
that  of  an  old-fashioned  wooden  plough,  and  much  re- 
sembles one,  except  in  the  want  of  a  mould-plate,  and 
in  the  addition  of  a  second  wing  to  the  sharp,  branching 
out  to  the  left  or  land  side. 

In  a  dry  summer  the  turf  thus  turned  over  will  soon 
burn  if  fire  is  applied.  It  burns  much  better  the  first 
summer  than  if  allowed  to  lie  a  year  on  the  ground. 
It  is  well  to  commence  paring  and  burning  in  June, 
for  then  we  have  the  summer  before  us,  and  can  choose 
the  dryest  time  for  burning.  When  some  of  the  sods 
are  well  on  fire,  they  may  be  heaped  together,  and 
others  not  so  dry  may  be  piled  on,  till  the  heap  becomes 
as  large  as  a  hundred  of  hay.  When  thus  piled,  no 
small  rains  will  quench  the  fires,  and  they  will  often 
burn  for  days  of  rainy  weather. 


174  PEAT-MEADOWS. 

Sometimes  we  are  enabled  to  burn  the  sods  as  they 
lie  when  no  rain  comes  for  ten  days  in  succession. 
Then  all  the  labor  of  piling  and  of  spreading  about  the 
ashes  is  saved.  This  is  the  easiest  mode  of  preparing 
for  the  grass-seed,  but  we  are  not  always  able  to  burn 
the  sods  thus. 

When  the  heaps  are  burnt,  nothing  remains  to  be 
done  but  to  spread  the  ashes,  sow  the  seed,  and  rake  it 
in  with  a  common  hand-rake.  This  should  be  done 
early  in  September,  if  we  expect  a  good  swath  of  grass 
the  next  summer ;  but  any  time  in  September  will  an- 
swer for  sowing  these  low  meadows  with  herds-grass 
and  with  red-top.  We  have  seldom  seen  these  grasses 
winter-killed  on  these  peat  bottoms. 

When  we  are  unable  to  burn  all  the  turf  by  the 
middle  of  September,  we  spread  the  ashes  over  the 
whole  surface,  after  having  replied  the  unburnt  sods  in 
a  new  place,  and  we  let  these  piles  stand  in  shape  of 
haycocks  until  another  summer.  Then  they  will 
sometimes  burn  wholly  down  without  any  trouble,  and 
their  ashes  should  be  spread  on  to  the  grass-ground,  and 
a  little  seed  should  be  sown  on  the  ground  where  the 
heaps  stood. 

In  this  mode,  meadows  may  sometimes  be  prepared 
for  the  seed  for  ten  or  fifteen  dollars  to  the  acre.  It 
sometimes  costs  thirty  dollars.  One  advantage  in  this 
mode  of  reclaiming  meadows  is,  we  have  manure 
enough  in  the  peat-ashes  for  two  or  three  years,  and 
we  sometimes  cut  two  tons  to  the  acre  without  any 
other  dressing.  It  cost  us  more  than  twenty  dollars 
to  subdue  an  acre  of  this  meadow,  for  we  were  begin- 
ners, and  had  no  instruction.  We  sold  about  four  acres 
of  this  reclaimed  meadow  to  Dr.  O.  Dean,  at  two  hun- 
dred dollars  an  acre.  Such  lands  must  have  a  new 
dressing  once  in  a  few  years  ;  and,  if  compost  manure  is 
carried  on,  it  should  consist  in  part  of  gravel,  this 
being  far  preferable  to  sand.  Not  more  than  one  peck 
of  herds-grass  (timothy)  should  be  sown  on  an  acre, 


INDIAN    CORN.  175 

for  the  seed  will  all  grow,  and  when  it  is  sown  thicker 
it  sometimes  comes  up  and  mats  together  so  close  as  to 
check  a  thrifty  growth.  These  bottoms  become  harder 
as  the  grass  grows,  and  we  are  often  able  in  a  few 
years  to  plough  them,  and  turn  the  wild  grass  under, 
and  seed  them  down  anew,  as  we  do  higher  lands. 
We  intend,  in  a  future  number,  to  show  how  we  have 
subdued  peat-meadows  by  different  processes. 

In  general,  when  gravel,  or  loam,  or  both  are  not 
nigh  by,  paring  and  burning  are  cheaper  than  any  other 
mode. 


INDIAN   CORN. 


This  indispensable  grain  is  now  come  up,  and  will 
soon  require  our  attention.  It  was  formerly  an  univer- 
sal custom  to  scrape  away  all  the  loose  dirt  from  the 
intervals  and  draw  it  up  around  these  plants,  making 
a  high  piked  hill. 

The  curious  may  inquire,  whence  arose  this  cus- 
tom? It  could  not  have  arisen  from  reasoning  and 
reflection  ;  for  now,  as  soon  as  men  venture  to  reason 
and  reflect  upon  the  practice,  they  abandon  it.  They 
now  begin  to  think  we  should  not  bury  the  roots  deep- 
er than  nature  intended  them  to  penetrate. 

England  has  a  climate  more  moist  than  ours,  and  is 
not  often  troubled  with  a  drought.  Their  practice  of 
ridging  and  draining  is  not  so  necessary  here.  Did 
not  our  fathers,  without  reflecting  on  the  diff'erence  of 
climate,  pursue  the  English  mode  of  ridging  and  of 
tilling,  lest  the  ground  should  sufter  from  too  much 
moisture  ? 

At  the  first  hoeing  it  is  more  convenient  to  draw 
up  a  little  earth  towards  the  hills,  and  cover  up  the 
weeds,  than  to  hoe  them  up  or  pull  them  out  with  the 
fingers  ;  and,  in   this  way,  the  weeds,  too,  are  more 


176  INDIAN    CORN. 

effectually  checked.  If  they  are  buried,  they  rot  im- 
mediately ;  if  they  are  hoed  up,  they  sometimes  grow 
again. 

A  small,  flat  hill  will  not  injure  the  corn,  but  we 
think  no  earth  should  be  drawn  up  to  the  plants  at  a 
second  hoeing. 

Certainty  of  the  Corn  Crop.  It  is  said  by  some 
that  this  crop  does  not  fail  more  than  one  year  in  ten. 
We  think  it  does  not  more  than  one  in  twenty.  For 
the  last  fifty  years  we  have  not  failed  of  raising  a  tol^ 
erable  crop  of  this  grain,  where  the  land  was  in  suita- 
ble order,  excepting  only  in  the  years  1816  and  1836. 
We  can  assert  this  of  no  other  grain  that  we  raise. 

Rye  is  subject  to  blast  and  to  the  winter  frosts^ 
wheat  is  subject  to  the  same  ;  oats  often  yield  a  very 
slender  crop  on  a  large  straw  ;  barley  is  by  no  means 
a  certain  crop  in  New  England  ;  and  we  know  of  no 
grain  to  be  coinpared  with  Indian  corn,  as  to' the  cer- 
tainty of  a  middUng  crop.  We  should  think  there 
was  much  less  risk  in  warranting  this  grain  than  in 
warranting  a  crop  of  potatoes.  It  is  not  half  so  liable 
to  suffer  in  dry  weather  as  they  are. 

These  are  great  advantages  in  favor  of  the  Indian 
corn,  or  maize,  of  which  our  ancestors  were  totally  ig- 
norant before  the  settlement  of  this  country ;  and, 
although  William  Cobbett  undertook  to  prove  that  it 
was  a  known  grain  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  from 
the  circumstance  of  their  rubbing  the  ears  of  corn  in 
their  hands  on  the  Sabbath,  as  they  passed  through 
the  fields,  we  think  he  may  be  said  to  '•  lie  under  a 
mistake,"  and  that  green  maize,  uncooked,  is  not  so 
palatable  food  as  green  wheat  would  be. 

Profits  of  the  Corn  Crop.  Now,  although  the 
corn  crop  is  thus  valuable,  and  one  with  which  we 
cannot  dispense,  still  it  will  not  follow  that  it  is  profita- 
ble to  raise  large  quantities  of  it  in  New  England.  It 
is  a  costly  business  to  rear  and  prepare  for  market  an 
acre  of  corn.     We  have  made  as  accurate  calculations 


CORRESPONDENCE.  177 

on  it  as  we  had  power  to  make,  and  we  think  it  not 
easy  to  raise  an  acre  of  good  corn  and  prepare  it  for 
market  for  a  less  sum  than  forty  dollars,  calHng  the 
manure  that  the  corn  crop  takes  fifteen  dollars,  or  one 
half  the  whole  manure  put  on.  We  will  call  a  good 
crop  worth  forty  dollars — and  this  is  surely  more  than 
it  will  average  —  then  the  stover  may  be  worth  one 
ton  of  stock  hay  —  not  merchantable  hay  —  say  eight 
or  ten  dollars :  and  this  will  be  our  net  profit.  Now 
an  acre  of  land,  within  twenty  miles  of  Boston,  that 
will  produce  one  ton  of  hay,  will  give  us  more  net 
profit  than  the  corn  ;  for  hay  has  averaged  fifteen  dol- 
lars per  ton  at  the  barn  for  thirty  years  past,  and  the 
after-feed  will  often  pay  for  the  getting. 

As  the  expense  of  raising  an  acre  of  corn  is  so  con- 
siderable, we  should  never  plant  more  land  than  we  can 
put  in  high  order.  If  we  should  average  fifty  or  sixty 
bushels  per  acre,  we  should  be  well  paid  for  our 
trouble  ;  but  how  often  we  see  less  than  thirty  on  an 
acre ! 

But  we  must  have  some  grain  to  mix  with  our  vege- 
tables, &c.  for  fattening  pork,  beef,  &c.  And  for  this, 
we  advise  to  the  raising  of  buckwheat  on  farms  that 
have  fields  suitable  for  that  grain.  Sandy  loams,  that 
often  produce  nothing  worth  gathering,  will  yield  fif- 
teen bushels  to  the  acre  with  very  little  labor. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator : 

Dear  Sir,  —  Last  August,  after  I  finished  my  hay- 
ing, I  undertook  to  plough  some  low  land,  which  was 
too  wet  to  be  touched  in  the  spring.  There  was  only 
one  acre  of  it,  and  we  succeeded  in  ploughing  it  in 
one  day,  and  laid  it  quite  flat.  I  intended  to  plant  it 
16 


178  CORRESPONDENCE. 

this  season,  but  we  have  had  so  much  wet  weather 
did  not  Hke  to  meddle  with  it. 

The  weeds  and  coarse  grass  are  now  coming  up,  and 
I  fear  I  shaU  have  trouble  in  subduing  them,  and  in 
rotting  the  whole  sufficiently  to  seed  the  land  to  grass. 
A  potato  crop  in  that  ground  Avill  not  repay  my  seed 
and  labor,  and  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  how  to  manage 
it  this  season.  Have  you  any  experience  in  cases  of 
this  kind  ?  If  so,  I  should  be  pleased  to  see  the  results 
in  your  useful  paper.  N.  P. 

Neioton,  June  6,  1839. 

Our  friend  at  Newton  should  have  rolled  his  furrows 
down  close  as  soon  as  he  made  them  last  August ;  then 
put  on  a  little  fine  manure,  and  harrowed  and  mixed  it 
thoroughly  with  the  soil.  He  should  then  have  sown 
his  herds-grass  and  his  red-top  immediately,  while  the 
ground  was  fresh.  The  grass  would  then  have  got  a 
start  last  fall,  the  winter  would  have  killed  the  weeds, 
and  this  spring  the  grass  would  have  had  all  the  ad- 
vantage, and  would  have  given  a  good  swath  in  July. 

As  the  case  now  is,  we  would  not  advise  the  plant- 
ing of  it.  The  owner  seems  to  think  it  necessary  to 
subdue  and  rot  the  greensward  before  he  should  seed 
it  to  grass.  This  is  not  so.  The  sod  underneath 
keeps  the  land  light  much  longer  than  if  it  had  been 
completely  pulverized,  and  reliance  should  be  placed 
on  the  surface  manuring  to  give  the  new  grass  a  start 
while  the  old  sod  was  rotting. 

We  have  for  some  time  practised  this  mode  of  turn- 
ing low  lands,  with  sour  and  worthless  grass,  into  good 
English  mowing.  Our  friend  would  now  do  well  to 
harrow  his  low  ground  repeatedly  this  summer,  and, 
in  the  latter  part  of  August,  put  on  his  manure  and 
sow  his  seed.  He  must  be  content  to  lose  a  ton  or  two 
of  hay  by  not  seeding  his  ground  last  summer. 


PEAT-MEADOWS. 


PEAT-MEADOWS. 


179 


Other  methods  are  adopted  to  convert  peat-meadows 
into  English  grass  beside  the  one  described  in  a  late 
number  of  our  paper.  Mr.  Fay,  of  Marlborough  —  we 
have  not  now  his  Christian  name  —  has  converted  one 
of  his  peat-meadows  into  mowing  at  very  little  expense. 
When  on  a  committee  last  fall  to  view  the  farms 
offered  for  premium  by  the  Middlesex  society,  we 
visited  Mr.  Fay's  farm.  He  merely  turned  over  the 
turf  on  tlie  surface,  and  in  a  few  days  set  fire  to  it.  All 
the  surface  turf  was  turned  to  ashes  without  any 
piling  up  of  the  sods,  and  the  ashes  were  of  course 
ready  spread.  Nothing  more  was  done  than  to  rake  in 
the  seed.  The  grass  looked  finely  when  we  saw  it, 
and  he  may  get  three  or  four  crops  of  hay  without  any 
manure. 

The  whole  labor  of  turning  over  these  sods  may 
sometimes  be  performed  by  a  man  in  ten  days.  The 
first  crop  of  hay,  therefore,  one  ton  and  a  half,  was  more 
than  equal  to  the  whole  expense  of  preparing  the  land! 

Another  mode  of  preparing  these  lands  for  grass  is  to 
turn  the  sods  over  either  with  bog-hoes,  or  with  a 
plough,  then  cover  them  with  loam  carted  on  from  the 
sides  of  the  meadow,  and  put  compost  manure  on  the 
surface.  This  method  has  been  practised  in  the  town 
of  Lexington  and  the  adjoining  towns. 

A  third  mode  is  to  cart  on  gravel,  sand,  ior  loam, 
sufficient  to  cover  up  the  wild  growth,  then  apply  the 
compost.  Gravel,  or  loam,  is  much  better  than  sand, 
as  this  last  lies  too  compact  and  heavy  when  put  on  a 
low  meadow.  Care  should  be  taken  in  either  case  not 
to  cart  on  too  much.  It  is  not  prudent  to  carry  on 
enough  to  cover  completely  all  the  old  matter.  We 
should  always  calculate  on  ploughing  these  meadows 
as  soon  as  they  become  hard  enough,  and  if  five  or  six 
inches  of  gravel  covers  the  rich  peat,  the  plough  will 
hardly  reach  it  and  bring  it  to  the  surface. 


180 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator  .* 

Sir,  —  I  have  a  couple  of  acres  of  high  gravelly 
land  m  the  midst  of  a  good  mowing-field  :  it  bears  but 
little,  and  is  not  worth  the  mowing.  If  I  plant  it,  I  can 
get  a  small  crop  of  corn,  and  a  crop  of  rye  with  much 
manuring  ;  but  when  I  seed  it  down,  the  seed  usually  is 
summer-killed  ;  and  if  it  lives  one  year,  it  soon  runs  out, 
and  leaves  the  land  again  barren.  1  make  much  more 
profit  of  my  manure  on  other  ground,  but  I  hate  to  see 
this  knoll  lie  so  barren.  If  it  was  in  my  cow-pasture, 
it  would  afford  some  feed,  and  would  not  look  so  bad 
as  now  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  field.  One  objection  to 
planting  it  with  beans,  or  any  other  crop  is,  I  cannot 
make  use  of  my  fall  feed  on  any  of  the  field  of  twenty 
acres  until  quite  late,  after  this  crop  is  off.  What  shall 
I  do  Avith  such  land  ?        Yours  respectfully,     W.  D. 

Frajikliiij  June  15,  1839. 

Our  friend  of  Franklin  is  not  alone  in  trouble  with 
such  land.  Much  of  the  land  in  that  town  is  gravelly 
and  sandy,  and  not  suitable  for  mowing  ;  but  we  think 
nothing  was  made  in  vain.  Such  land  is  easily 
ploughed  ;  but  if  heavily  manured  it  will  not  hold  the 
maniu'e  ;  it  is  not  sufficiently  tenacious.  When  such 
land  lies  well,  and  near  a  mine  of  peat,  or  pond-muck, 
or  clay,  it  may  pay  the  way  to  cart  on  forty  loads  to 
the 'acre  of  this  more  tenacious  soil  ;  but  it  is  not  good 
to  expend  much  on  such  soils,  when  they  are  remote 
and  out  of  the  way,  until  we  have  brought  our  better 
lands  to  a  higher  state  of  cultivation  ;  for  one  load  of 
manure  on  lower  or  more  clayey  lands  will  produce 
more  in  a  course  of  years  than  three  loads  will  on  such 
land  as  this.  Let  our  manures,  then,  be  applied  where 
they  will  do  most  good,  and  if  we  can  get  any  thing 
from    these  light  soils  beyond  the  expense,   they  are 


HINTS    TO    FARMERS.  181 

worth  something.  Now  there  are  hundreds  of  acres  in 
the  town  of  Frankhn  that  would  annually  yield  from 
ten  to  twenty  bushels  of  buckwheat  with  only  one 
ploughing,  and  without  any  manure  excepting  the 
green  crop,  which  may  be  turned  in  from  the  15th  to 
the  30th  of  June,  and  we  may  always  have  this  green 
crop  if  we  will  sow  one  bushel  of  rye  on  the  acre,  with 
the  buckwheat.  The  wheat  will  be  mowed  off  by 
the  first  of  September,  and  then  the  rye  will  appear 
and  give  some  fall  feed.  The  wheat  will  not  be  in 
the  way  of  fall  feeding,  and  we  need  not  fence  off,  as  in 
case  of  planting  beans,  corn,  or  potatoes.  —  Ed. 


HINTS  TO  FARMERS. 


June  is  the  proper  month  for  preparing  composts  for 
August,  or  fall  sowing  ;  and,  if  we  have  not  too  many 
acres  in  tillage,  we  have  ample  time  for  ploughing  by 
the  roadside,  and  securing  the  rank  growth  of  grass 
and  weeds  that  we  often  find  there.  If  we  take 
care  of  this  wash  in  season,  we  sometimes  prevent  its 
being  put  into  the  middle  of  the  road  by  the  highway 
surveyors,  some  of  whom  are  fond  of  taking  such 
materials  in  preference  to  gravel  to  mend  the  road. 
They  find  it  easier  to  fill  a  cart  with  this  stuff  than 
with  gravel,  the  only  material  that  should  be  put  on 
a  country  road.  They  make  a  great  show  by  putting 
such  manure  in  the  road,  and  make  some  people  be- 
lieve they  have  been  doing  some  public  service.  In 
autumn,  when  the  rains  come,  they  wonder  to  see 
such  deep  ruts  cut  in  the  road  ;  and  they  and  a  majority 
of  travellers  begin  to  think,  if  this  muck  had  been  put 
on  to  the  farms,  the  roads  would  have  been  better. 
16* 


182  GORRESPONDENGE; 


eORRESFONDENCE. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator  r 

Dear  Sir, — I  have  lately  seen  in  some  of  the 
agricuhural  papers  some  extravagant  calculations  as  to 
the  profits  of.  lands  planted  with  roots,  compared  \vith 
lands  in  grass.  I  like  root  crops,  and  think  every 
farmer  ought  to  raise  a  good  supply  of  them  ;  but  when 
I  see  stories,  told  in  print,  that  no  man  of  reflection 
will  believe,  I  feel  hurt  that  the  cause  of  farming  must 
thereby  sufter  through  its  professed  friends  ;  and  I  wish 
that  such  statements  may  be  kept  apart  from  others  of 
a  better  character,  and  labeled  "  Book-farming,"  in 
which  I,  for  one,  have  not  much  confidence. 

I  feel  confident,  from  some  little  experience  in  the 
business  for  thirty  years  past,  that  grass-lands,  in  the 
neighborhood  or  within  twenty  miles  of  Boston,  have 
also  some  value,- and  that  few  crops  give  us  a  better  net 
income.  I  have  one  acre  of  land  in  this  town  which 
never  fails  to  give  me  one  ton  of  good  merchantable 
hay  annually,  and  this  without  manuring,  and  without 
any  labor  save  that  of  getting  the  hay.  As  it  lies  near 
my  barn,  the  cost  of  getting  this  hay  does  not  often 
exceed  two  dollars;  though,  to  take  my  farm  together, 
the  cost  averages  three  dollars  per  ton.  Hay,  for  the 
last  twenty  years,  has  been  worth  fifteen  dollars  the 
ton  on  the  average  in  winter  and  spring.  Now  what 
is  this  land  worth  per  acre  ?  It  must  be  worth  more 
than  two  hundred  dollars,  for  it  gives  me  the  interest 
of  two  hundred  dollars,  besides  the  labor  of  getting; 
and  then  we  have  the  fall  feed. 

Now  to  say  that  land  in  turnips,  or  in  any  other 
roots,  will  give  three  times  the  net  profit  of  land  in 
grass  is  rather  extravagant :  six  hundred  dollars  is  a 
great  sum  for  an  acre  of  tillage-land,,  and  thirty-six 
dollars  annual  net  income  from  such  land  is  more  than 
most  men  will  expect ;   but  we  are  told  an  acre  in  tur- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  183 

nips  will  keep  about  ten  times  as  mneh  stock  as  an 
acre  in  grass,  and  we  are  urged  on  this  basis  to  calcu- 
late our  profits  ! 

Is  there  not  some  delusion  here  ?  Ten  times  the 
profit  of  my  grass-land  would  be  one  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars  profit  from  a  single  acre.  If  it  is  meant 
that  so  much  net  profit  can  be  realized,  it  is  not  true. 
If  the  meaning  is,  that  by  laying  out  enough  we  may 
make  one  acre  produce  ten  times  what  it  would  in 
grass,  this  may  be  true,  but  we  must  always  count  the 
cost.  The  expense  of  manuring,  and  of  cultivating, 
and  of  harvesting,  and  storing  one  acre  of  turnips,  is 
not  to  be  compared  with  the  expense  of  haying  one 
acre  of  grass-land. 

But  I  have  set  my  acre  of  grass  at  only  one  ton. 
With  a  little  expense,  we  often  get  two.  It  will  not 
be  extravagant  to  set  the  crop,  on  good  land,  at  two 
tons.  Twenty-four  dollars  will  pay  the  interest  of  four 
hundred  dollars :  if  your  roots  will  do  ten  times  as 
much,  they  will  give  a  net  income  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  dollars  per  acre.  Good  turnip  land,  at  this  rate, 
should  be  set  high  :  not  less  than  two  thousand  dollars 
the  acre  ! 

Such  calculations  as  these  are  injurious  to  the  farm- 
ing interest.     They  are  deceptive. 

I  have  forty  acres  of  highland  mowing  and  tv\relve 
acres  of  coarse  meadow:  I  find  it  very  difficult  to  go 
over  these  acres  fast  enough  ;  that  is,  some  acres  lie  ten 
years  in  grass,  and  they  yield  but  a  small  crop.  I  use 
most  of  my  manure  on  my  corn  and  potato  land, 
having  about  four  acres  to  hoe  in  a  year,  and  four  of 
course  to  seed  down  each  year.  If  I  go  over  the 
whole  in  rotation,  I  am  ten  years  in  my  progress 
throui^h  or  around.  I  understand  you  are  taking  a 
shorter  cut,  and  get  through  sooner.  I  should  like  to 
liave  you  a  little  more  particular  in  describing  your 
process  of  renovating  grass-lands  that  are  bound  out 
and  do  not  give  half  a  crop.  Truly  yours,     L — d. 

Sherburne^  June  21,  1839. 


184  CORRESPONDENCE. 

We  well  know  the  difficulty  of  keeping  all  parts  of 
the  farm  in  good  heart,  so  as  to  yield  as  we  might 
wish  while  we  continue  to  plant  so  many  acres.  Our 
plan  is  to  plant  but  half  as  many  as  we  used  to  do  — 
getting  nearly  as  much  produce  —  and  to  save  a  large 
portion  of  our  manure  for  seeding  down  our  fields  in 
the  last  part  of  summer. 

If  we  plough  in  a  rowen  crop  one  month  after  hay- 
ing, we  can  seed  it  down  immediately  to  grass,  and 
have  a  good  swath  for  the  scythe  the  next  season,  by 
applying  less  than  half  the  manure  that  we  put  on  for 
corn  or  for  potatoes.  If  our  friend  L.  should  not  use 
any  manure  for  planting,  therefore,  he  would  be  able 
to  renovate  all  his  forty  acres  once  in  five  years  instead 
of  once  in  ten,  and  he  would  probably  cut  double,  and 
more  than  double  the  quantity  of  English  hay  which 
he  now  cuts.  Indeed,  a  field  that  has  been  mown  ten 
years,  will  not  commonly  yield  one  fourth  as  much  as 
after  two  years'  mowing. 

But  what  shall  we  do  for  grain  ?  Raise  one  acre  of 
corn  instead  of  three ;  sixty  bushels  instead  of  ninety, 
and  make  up  the  balance  in  buckwheat,  which  needs 
no  manure.  Thus,  by  saving  half  his  manure  for 
seeding  down,  in  the  last  of  summer  he  will  go  over 
his  fields  and  give  each  a  turn  of  manure  much  oftener 
than  by  planting.  Besides,  he  has  many  acres  rather 
too  low,  too  wet,  and  too  cold  for  planting.  Why 
should  such  land  ever  be  planted?  Our  process  is  pe- 
culiarly applicable  to  such  lands. 

Then  we  would  remind  Mr.  L.  that,  on  going  through 
with  our  process  a  second  time,  less  manure  will  be 
required  on  seeding  down  ;  for  he  will  turn  up  the  old 
sod  that  he  turned  down  but  three  or  four  years  before, 
and  that  will  aid  him  in  the  process  ;  and  we  can  as- 
sure him  that  the  oftener  he  turns  in  a  crop  of  rowen, 
without  taking  a  crop  of  grain,  the  better  he  is  making 
his  lands  ;  and  he  will  soon  be  able  to  put  the  whole  in 
such  order  as  to  give  him  a  swath  worth  cutting  on 


FEEDING    CATTLE.  185 

each  acre  of  his  mowing-lands.  Then,  if  he  tills  but 
half  as  much  as  he  has  done,  how  much  time  he  will 
have  for  making  manure, —  hatf  the  month  of  May  and 
half  the  month  of  June  !  —  Ed. 


FEEDING  CATTLE. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator  : 

I  PRESUME  that  I  shall  express  the  feeling  of  many 
armers  when  I  say  that  the  conflicting  statements  of 
different  agriculturists  often  confnse  me,  and  leave  me 
in  great  doubt  as  to  the  proper  course  to  pursue.  Do 
you  answer,  —  try  for  yourself?  But  recollect  how 
little  a  man  can  accomplish  in  one  short  life,  if  you 
oblige  him  to  act  upon  his  own  experience  alone.  In 
all  things  we  constantly  act  upon  an  accumulated  ex- 
perience perhaps  of  ages.  I  turn,  then,  to  you  for  ad- 
vice, first  upon  cutting  hay  for  cattle  with  a  machine, 
recommended  by  every  agricultural  publication,  exten- 
sively practised  in  England,  and  said  to  save  an  amount 
of  food  from  fifty  to  twenty-five  per  cent.  Upon  what 
principle  is  it  that  this  saving  can  be  made  ?  in  waste  ? 
This  a  careful  feeder  never  permits,  but,  by  feeding  a 
little,  and  often,  causes  every  particle  to  be  consumed 
in  mastication  and  digestion.  In  the  case  of  ruminat- 
ing animals,  is  not  every  portion  of  long  hay  complete- 
ly digested  ?  aud,  if  completely  digested,  is  not  the 
same  nutriment  obtained,  whether,  at  the  time  of  feed- 
ing, it  be  one  inch  or  one  foot  in  length  ?  This  exper- 
iment cannot  be  made  without  an  outlay  of  from  $30 
to  $50  for  a  good  machine,  which  a  farm.er  cannot 
afford,  except  for  some  positive  advantage.  It  appears 
to  me  that,  with  your  long  experience  and  opportuni- 
ties of  obtaining  the  opinions  of  practical  men,  you  may 
give  valuable  advice  upon  this  point.  It  is  either  for 
the  interest  of  the  farmer  to  adopt  the  practice,  or  de- 


186 


FEEDING    CATTLE. 


cidedly  for  his  interest  to  avoid  useless  trouble  and  ex- 
pense. 

The  same  remarks  will  apply  to  boiling  or  steaming 
food  for  cows,  applied  to  roots  or  coarse  hay  and  stalks. 
Is  a  turnip  a  natural  and  proper  article  of  food  for  a 
cow,  and  can  it  be  improved  by  steaming  ? 

There  ought  to  be  no  backwardness  in  adopting 
real  improvements,  however  opposed  to  previous  prac- 
tice ;  but  there  should  and  must  be  great  caution.  I 
know  farmers  who  will  not  read  an  agricultural  journal 
because  they  have  been  led  into  so  ujany  errors. 

A  Young  Farmer. 

Newton,  June  25,   1839. 

Our  Newton  correspondent  has  entered  on  a  subject 
that  requires  much  consideration.  His  inquiries  are 
not  to  be  answered  iu  a  moment.  For  ourselves  we 
have  to  say  we  have  not  been  nuich  in  the  practice  of 
cutting  up  fodder  for  cattle  ;  and  we  shall  answer  him 
as  well  as  we-  can  from  what  we  have  seen  in  the 
practice  of  other  farmers  and  feeders. 

We  think  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  hay,  &c.  is 
better  relished,  and  is  eat  up  cleaner,  when  chopped 
and  put  in  a  clean  manger,  than  when  given  whole. 
The  great  question  therefore  is,  shall  we  save  enough 
hy  the  process  to  pay  the  labor  ?  and  the  answer  must 
depend  on  various  circumstances. 

Stage  horses,  or  such  as  are  driven  constantly,  have 
not  so  much  time  to  masticate  their  food  as  others 
have,  while  their  drivers  have  more  leisure  to  tend 
them,  and  may  just  as  well  devote  a  portion  of  it  to 
prepare  this  food  for  digestion  as  to  let  the  team  do  the 
whole  business.  When  teams  are  kept  principally  on 
grain,  straw  will  answer  well  to  be  mixed  with  it  ;  and 
this  straw  must  be  chopped  up,  or  it  cannot  be  mixed, 
and  will  not  be  eaten.  At  the  south,  therefore,  where 
they  cannot  raise  so  good  hay  as  we  can,  and  where 
they  raise   grain  with  more  ease,  they  make  a  great 


FEEDING    CATTLE.  187 

business  of  cutting  up  straw  and  coarse  hay  to  be 
mixed  with  their  grain.  With  us  the  poorer  kinds  of 
hay  should  be  cut,  or  horses  will  not  relish  the  food. 
Our  correspondent  objects  to  the  expense  of  a  cutter. 
We  have  seen  cutters  sold  in  Baltimore  at  eighty  dol- 
lars apiece,  and  have  been  told  of  some  for  which 
ninety  dollars  were  demanded!  We  do  not  think 
many  of  our  farmers  could  aftbrd  that  sum  for  one  ;  but 
this  is  not  the  only  cost ;  the  labor  of  working  the 
machine  for  a  stock  of  cattle  of  forty  head,  through 
the  winter,  would  much  exceed  the  interest  of  the  cap- 
ital laid  out  for  it, —  probably  six  to  one. 

But  the  more  simple  cutters  may  be  had  for  a  far 
less  price,  and  we  think  the  simplest  ones  best.  We 
have  never  seen  one  that  would  feed  itself  well ;  and 
the  best  mode  of  cutting  up  fodder  is  to  employ  two 
workmen  at  a  time, — one  to  feed  and  one  to  cut. 
Such  men  as  we  usually  hire  would  be  engaged  not 
less  than  an  hour  each  day  m  cutting  up  fodder  for 
forty  head  of  cattle.  Then  they  must  be  fed,  and 
must  have  tight  mangers  for  their  chopped  fodder. 

One  hundred  and  eighty  days  —  our  foddering  sea- 
son—  require  three  hundred  and  sixty  hours  extra 
labor  for  cutting  up  the  fodder.  Here  are  forty  days 
extra  labor ;  and  we  cannot  count  this  less  than  thirty 
dollars  in  money.  This  sum  will  buy  three  or  four  tons 
of  good  stock  hay ;  and  the  question  is,  have  we  saved 
enough  by  cutting  to  pay  the  labor  ? 

Corn-stover  ought  to  be  cut  up  fine,  for  cattle  can 
eat  but  a  small  part  of  it  imcut.  The  top  stalks  and 
the  husks  are  rich  food  when  well  secured,  and  ought 
not  to  be  lost.  When  we  have  none  but  the  poorer 
quality  of  hay,  we  may  see  our  account  in  cutting  it 
up  for  the  cows  in  the  spring,  and  mixing  a  little  meal 
with  it ;  but  cows  and  horses  will  eat  up  clean  our 
good  hay  without  our  chopping  it,  and  we  much  doubt 
whether  in  such  case  we  ever  get  pay  for  our  labor  of 
chopping. 

On  the  subject  of  feeding  we  have  intimated,  in  a 


188  FEEDING    CATTLE. 

former  number,  that  it  is  a  good  plan  to  mix  np  hay  of 
different  kinds,  either  at  the  time  of  stowing  into  the 
barn  or  at  the  time  of  feeding  ont.  We  do  not  find 
that  our  cows  winter  better  on  pure  Enghsh  hay  than 
they  do  when  fed  a  part  of  the  time  on  that  of  a 
coarser  quahty.  When  kept  through  on  the  best  of 
Enghsh  hay,  the  food  is  so  rich  that  cows  become 
tired  of  it  at  the  time  when  they  need  the  most  care  ; 
and  it  has  often  been  noted  that,  when  kept  on  hay  of 
a  poorer  quality  through  the  coldest  weather,  and  then 
fed  on  good  hay  in  the  spring,  they  relish  it  better, 
and  fatten  their  calves  better,  than  when  kept  wholly 
on  rich  food. 

But  we  often  have  hay  too  poor  for  cows  ;  and,  if 
we  have  no  young  stock,  what  shall  we  do  with  this  ? 
If  some  of  the  best  hay  should  be  thoroughly  mixed 
np  with  this,  it  would  sweeten  the  whole.  Most  peo- 
ple are  extremely  careful  to  keep  the  good  hay  separate 
from  the  poor ;  but,  if  it  is  all  to  be  foddered  out, 
what  harm  arises  from  the  mixture  ?  We  have  often 
mixed  good  hay  with  that  of  a  poorer  quality  in  the 
winter  season.  By  letting  both  lie  together  over  night, 
the  poorer  sort  becomes,  in  some  degree,  impregnated 
with  the  flavor  of  the  good,  and  the  cattle  will  discover 
the  improvement.  If  you  doubt  this,  try  an  experi- 
ment. Set  a  plate  of  rich  pound  cake  into  a  cupboard 
or  chest  with  a  lump  of  butter,  and  let  them  remain  in 
the  same  apartment  one  night.  You  will  find  at  break- 
fast what  company  your  butter  has  had.  It  is  power- 
fully impregnated  with  the  flavor  of  the  cake. 

But  a  better  time  for  mixing  hay  is  when  we  stow 
it  aAvay  in  summer.  If  we  have  a  supply  of  old 
meadow,  or  of  straw,  we  can  mix  it  with  our  new- 
mown  clover,  and  the  whole  will  be  leavened.  In  such 
case  we  need  not  dry  our  clover  so  long  by  some  hours, 
and  this  is  often  a  great  saving  of  labor  and  of  leaves 
of  the  clover. 

In  a  future  number  we  shall  say  something  on  cook- 
ing food  for  brutes. 


HAYING.  189 


HAYING. 


Before  the  haying  season  is  over,  we  may  expect  to 
see  numerous  directions,  in  the  papers,  as  to  the  best 
mode  of  cutting  and  of  curing  the  article  ;  but  nothing 
that  we  have  seen  is  equal  to  the  sun  for  curing  hay. 

Clover  should  be  moved  as  little  as  may  be,  but  it 
must  be  dried  before  it  is  carted.  We  have  known 
many  book  farmers  to  lose  their  clover  and  their  confi- 
dence in  new  projects  by  attempting  to  cure  it  without 
the  aid  of  the  sun. 

When  the  burthen  is  heavy  it  is  good  to  spread  it 
out  in  the  forenoon,  and  not  rake  it  the  first  day,  if 
the  weather  looks  well,  but  turn  it  bottom  side  up,  — 
green  side  up  just  at  night.  The  leaves  will  not  then 
rattle  off,  and  the  dew  will  not  injure  the  green  side  of 
the  swath.  When  the  weather  is  good,  this  clover 
may  be  carted  the  second  day  ;  and,  if  we  doubt  of 
its  keeping  well,  we  throw  on  a  peck  of  salt  to  the 
ton,  and  we  avoid  stowing  it  away  close  when  we  have 
room  to  let  it  lie  untrodden.  This  often  saves  us  an 
hour's  drying,  and  sometimes  we  gain  a  day  by  it,  and 
avoid  a  shower. 

To  guard  against  rain,  hay  should  not  be  rolled  up 
into  cocks,  but  it  should  be  pitched  together  by  forks- 
ful :  it  will  shed  rain  better. 

Any  farmer  may  make  hay  in  good  weather,  but  it 
requires  management  to  avoid  the  rain.  When  a 
shower  approaches,  look  at  the  main  chance  :  get  to- 
gether the  great  body  of  the  hay  where  it  is  thickest, 
and  let  the  scattering  alone  till  the  last. 

If  your  team  is  in  the  field,  and  you  are  partly  load- 
ed, let  the  loader  jump  down  from  the  cart  and  help 
the  carter  to  pitch  on  enough  to  make  a  piked  stack  on 
the  cart,  that  will  shed  off  the  rain.  Then  what  is 
on  will  be  secure,  and  you  have  a  dry  place  to  lie  in 
under  the  cart  till  the  shower  is  over  ! 
17 


190  STATE    OF    AGRICULTURE 

How  often  have  we  seen  a  cart,  half  loaded,  stand, 
and  with  its  wide  spread  load  catch  so  much  of  the 
shower  that  portions  of  it  would  run  in  streams  through 
the  cart,  and  wet  the  tenants  beneath  ! 


[From  the  Genesee  Farmer.] 

STATE  OF  AGRICULTURE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

That  the  agriculture  of  the  United  States  does  not, 
to  use  a  commercial  phrase,  rank  with  that  of  the  most 
favored  nations,  is  perhaps  generally  admitted  :  that  it 
might  with  proper  care  be  made  to  do  so,  does  not  ad- 
mit of  controversy  ;  and  it  may  be  Avell  to  inquire  into 
some  of  the  causes  that  lead  to  this  state  of  things. 
With  one  of  the  most  fertile  countries,  by  nature,  on 
the  globe,  we  do  not  in  the  amount  of  products  equal 
that  of  some  countries  much  less  favored,  but  which, 
by  superior  skill  in  cultivation,  have  attained  a  fertility 
unknown  among  us.  As  examples  of  this,  we  may 
name  England,  Belgium,  and  part  of  Germany ;  in 
which  the  average  per  acre  of  the  crops  is  much  great- 
er than  in  the  United  States,  if  we  except,  perhaps, 
some  few  of  the  best  cultivated  districts. 

In  order  to  determine  what  should  be,  it  is  sometimes 
useful  to  ascertain  what  actually  is.  Estimates  have 
been  made,  at  different  times,  of  the  total  of  agricultu- 
ral products  in  this  country.  Such  estimates  have  no 
pretensions  to  exactness:  they  are  only  approximations 
to  the  precise  quantity.  Still,  as  similar  estimates  are 
made  in  other  countries,  they  may  afford  the  means  of 
comparison,  as  showing  the  proportion  of  production  to 
the  population.  The  year  1838  was,  on  the  whole,  a 
favorable  one  for  the  farmer ;  and  the  crops  undoubt- 
edly, in  the  aggregate,  exceeded  those  of  any  previous 
year.     If  we  should  estimate  the  wheat  grown  in  the 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


191 


country  at  sixty  millions  of  bushels,  com  at  one  hun- 
dred millions,  and  oats  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  mil- 
lions of  bushels,  we  should  not  probably  be  far  from 
the  truth.  Barley  does  not  rank  high  in  amount,  as  a 
cultivated  crop,  though  the  quantity  produced  is  annu- 
ally increasing.  The  wheat  is  principally  grown  in 
the  country  north  of  the  Potomac  and  Ohio,  and  south 
of  the  great  lakes.  The  corn  is  produced  chiefly  in 
the  south,  and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi. Oats  are  cultivated  in  all  sections,  unless  the 
extreme  south,  and  are  every  where  the  principal  food 
of  horses,  while  they  are  given  to  cattle,  sheep,  and 
swine,  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  average  crop  of 
wheat,  on  the  whole,  cannot  be  estimated,  per  acre,  at 
more  than  eighteen  bushels  ;  corn,  thirty-five  bushels  ; 
oats,  the  same ;  and  barley,  about  twenty  bushels. 
This  rate  will,  of  course,  vary  greatly  in  different  sec- 
tions. In  the  States  north  of  the  Ohio,  the  average  of 
corn  would  perhaps  equal  or  exceed  fifty  bushels  to 
the  acre  ;  while,  in  the  States  south  of  the  Potomac,  it 
has  been  estimated  as  low  as  fifteen  bushels  per  acre. 
The  difference  in  the  other  crops,  in  the  several  sec- 
tions of  our  country,  would  be  less  ;  but  still  it  is  con- 
siderable. 

That  these  average  productions  might  be  greatly 
increased,  does  not  admit  of  a  question :  that  the  inter- 
ests of  agriculture  demand  that  such  should  be  the 
case,  is  equally  clear.  By  attention  to  the  selection  of 
seeds,  and  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  an  addition  of  ten 
per  cent,  to  these  averages  might  be  readily  made. 
Experience  shows  that  such  is  the  fact ;  and  multitudes 
of  individual  instances  might  be  adduced,  to  prove  that 
such  has  already  been  done  by  skilful  and  intelligent 
farmers. 

The  causes  which,  in  our  opinion,  have  tended  more 
than  any  others  to  depress  agriculture,  and  prevent  its 
receiving  the  attention  it  demands,  as  well  as  to  reduce 
the  profits  which  should  reward  the  laborer,  are  the 


192 


STATE    OF    AGRICULTURE 


following :  First,  a  want  of  respect  in  the  agricultural 
interest  for  their  own  profession.  There  is  a  feeling 
in  certain  portions  of  the  community  —  principally 
those  who  have  done  nothing  to  increase  the  produc- 
tive capital  of  the  country  themselves,  and  who  may 
be  termed  the  drones  of  the  social  compact  —  that  per- 
sonal labor  is  disgraceful,  and  that  the  cultivator  of  the 
soil  is  little  better  than  a  slave.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  this  feeling  may  be  said  to  be  promoted  and 
perpetuated  by  the  conduct  of  farmers  themselves. 
There  are  too  many  men  among  us  —  men  who  have 
good'  farms,  and  who  might  employ  their  sons  upon 
them,  with  the  certainty  that  honorable  competence 
would  be  the  result  —  who  prefer  to  see  them  become 
poor  miserable  retailers  of  tape  and  sugar  candy,  or 
second  or  third-rate  lawyers,  —  men  fit  for  nothing  only 
to  promote  litigation,  and  sow  the  seeds  of  strife,  and 
bring  into  contempt  the  high  principles  of  right  which 
the  law  is  intended  to  embody  —  rather  than  honest, 
high-minded,  intelligent  cultivators  of  the  soil.  For 
this  evil — -and  it  is  a  serious  one  —  the  remedy  is  Avith 
the  farmer.  His  sons  should  be  well  educated ;  but 
they  should  be  taught  to  feel  —  what  in  fact  is  the 
case  —  that,  in  the  actual  dignity  and  usefulness  of 
their  profession,  the  farmer  has  few  equals,  and  no 
superior. 

The  second  cause  of  the  depressed  state  of  agricul- 
ture in  the  United  States  is  the  inattention  of  farmers 
in  selecting  the  best  breeds  of  animals  for  their  yards, 
and  the  best  seeds  for  planting.  In  these  two  respects 
there  is  the  greatest  room  for  improvement ;  and  the 
necessity  of  entering  at  once  upon  a  course  of  reform 
cannot  be  too  earnestly  pressed  upon  our  cultivators. 
Experience  has  shown  that  animals  can  be  formed,  in 
the  hands  of  the  scientific  breeder,  to  meet  the  wants, 
or  remedy  the  defects,  of  any  existing  race.  Whether 
it  be  a  beautiful  form,  weight  of  carcase,  aptitude  to 
fatten,  or  all  these  combined  in  cattle,  or  the  same 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  193 

qualities,  with  or  without  wool,  in  sheep,  Bakewell, 
Cully,  Berry,  and  EUman  have  shown  that  domestic 
animals,  in  the  hands  of  the  farmer  who  understands 
the  principles  of  breeding,  are  as  clay  in  the  hands  of 
the  potter,  to  be  moulded  and  transformed  at  will. 
The  records  of  Smithfield  market  —  the  most  decisive 
evidence  that  can  be  produced  —  prove  that  the  aver- 
age weight  of  cattle  and  sheep  has  increased  one  third 
within  less  than  half  a  century.  Not  less  beneficial 
have  been  the  results  which  have  ensued  from  atten- 
tion to  improved  or  new  varieties  of  seeds.  The  most 
valuable  kinds  of  wheat,  barley,  oats,  and  other  grain 
in  Europe,  and  of  maize  or  corn  in  this  country,  have 
been  the  result  of  careful  selection  and  long-continued 
cultivation.  Col.  Le  Conteur,  of  the  Isle  of  Jersey, 
who  has  paid  more  attention  to  wheat,  and  instituted  a 
greater  number  of  experiments  in  regard  to  the  ])lant, 
than  any  other  man  living  —  having  devoted  about 
twenty  years  and  ample  means  to  the  pursuit  —  states 
"that  the  only  chances  of  having  pure  sorts  was  to 
raise  them  from  single  grains,  or  single  ears ;  and  that 
the  improvements  he  had  njade  in  this  way  had  amply 
rewarded  his  labor,  as  the  produce  of  his  crops  was 
increased  from  an  average  of  about  twenty-three  to 
twenty-five  bushels  an  acre  to  about  thirty-four ;  and, 
since  he  had  raised  wheat  from  single  ears,  or  carefully 
selected  sorts,  he  has  increased  his  crops  to  between 
forty  and  fifty  bushels  an  acre."  Many  of  the  best- 
known  kinds  of  wheat,  barley,  and  oats,  now  grown 
in  Europe  —  and  some  of  them  have  been  successfully 
introduced  into  this  country  —  have  been  produced 
from  single  ears  or  heads  of  grain,  selected  by  observ- 
ing men  for  some  valuable  qualities  they  appeared  to 
possess.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  White  Kent  and 
Whittingham  wheat,  the  Chevalier,  Annat,  and  Stains 
Barley,  and  the  Potato,  Hopetown,  and  Dun  oat.  In 
this  country,  we  need  only  to  refer  to  the  justly-cele- 
brated Baden  corn,  which,  by  persevering  selection^ 
17* 


194  STATE    OF    AGRICULTURE 

has  been  brought  to  produce  from  four  to  ten  ears  on  a 
stalk,  and,  where  the  cUmate  and  the  soil  are  suitable, 
as  in  the  Western  States,  has  added  at  least  fifty  per 
cent,  to  the  productiveness  of  the  corn  crop.  This  is 
a  field  of  improvement  in  which  every  farmer  may  be 
a  laborer,  and  with  the  happiest  resalts.  To  improve 
his  seeds  requires  no  extra  capital :  a  little  care  and 
attention  to  the  qualities  of  his  growing  and  ripened 
crops  is  all  that  is  requisite  ;  and,  whether  he  avails 
himself  of  the  opportunity  for  improvement  or  not,  no 
good  farmer  can  avoid  having  the  feasibility  of  so  doing- 
repeatedly  forced  upon  him  by  the  difference  in  size 
and  productiveness  of  the  several  plants 

Another  and  third  cause  of  the  low  state  of  agricul- 
ture is  a  too  general  want  of  knowledge,  among  farm- 
ers, of  the  scientific  principles  which  govern  agricul- 
ture. That  every  farmer  should  be  a  thorough  chemist; 
and  be  able  to  explain  all  the  laws  that  govern  matter, 
and,  in  doing  so,  trace  to  their  source  the  elements  of 
vegetable  and  animal  nutrition,  is  not  what  is  to  be 
expected  ;  and  so  with  the  kindred  sciences  of  botany 
and  entomology.  Still  he  should  be  able,  and  with 
very  little  attention  may  be  able,  to  go  through  a  suffi- 
ciently accurate  analysis  of  soils,  and  be  familiar  with 
many  of  the  minute  as  well  as  important  changes  that 
matter  undergoes  in  the  transformation  from  inert  atoms 
to  organized  life.  Constantly  among  plants,  and  com- 
pelled to  be  familiar  with  insects,  some  of  both  of 
which  he  numbers  among  his  worst  enemies,  he  is  in 
part  a  botanist  and  entomologist  by  necessity ;  and, 
were  his  observations  properly  directed,  there  is  nothing 
to  hinder,  but  much  to  render,  farmers  the  most  suc- 
cessful discoverers  in  these  sciences.  Works  which 
would  give  a  proper  coarse  to  his  inquiries  may  be 
found  at  almost  every  bookstore  ;  and  it  is  not  too  much 
to  hope  that  volumes  will  be  found  in  almost  every 
common  school  and  district  library,  which  will  awaken 
inquiry,  and  direct  observers  in  the   successful  pursuit 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES.  195 

of  these  and  other  sciences.  We  think  that  blame 
may  be  attributed,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to  most 
of  the  agricultural  publications  and  periodicals  of  the 
day,  in  not  devoting  more  of  their  pages  to  the  discus- 
sion and  elucidation  of  these  topics.  It  may,  perhaps, 
be  said,  that  but  little  is  yet  known  with  certainty  on 
these  subjects  ;  that  chemical  analysis,  vegetable  physi- 
ology, and  the  developement  of  the  laws  that  govern 
the  nutrition  of  plants  and  animals,  are  all  as  yet  in 
their  infancy  ;  still,  it  cannot  but  be  useful  to  have 
what  is  known  spread  before  the  public  mind,  and  if 
much  that  is  supposed  to  be  certain  should  hereafter 
prove  merel]'  theoretical,  useful  observations  will  be 
prompted,  and  truth  eventually  established.  Agricul- 
ture is  strictly  a  science,  and  should  be  considered  as 
such.  The  principles  that  govern  and  control  matter 
are,  many  of  them,  already  understood,  and  no  one 
has  any  pretensions  to  the  title  of  a  thorough  farmer 
who  is  not  able  to  apply  such  as  are  known  to  his 
course  of  practice  in  the  field.  We  have  many  men 
who  express  suryirise  at  the  well-known  fact,  that  the 
most  skilful  and  successful  farmers  we  have  in  this 
country  are  men  who  have  been  bred  to  other  pursuits, 
and  never  had  the  management  of  a  farm  till  they  pur- 
chased for  themselves,  and  assumed  the  farmer  at  once. 
We  think  there  is  nothing  surprising  in  this  result. 
These  men  brought  to  the  business  of  agriculture  that 
fund  of  knowledge  they  had  already  acquired,  and 
which^  unfettered  by  previous  long-established  modes 
and  habits,  they  were  at  liberty  to  apply  directly  to 
their  new  pursuit.  They  had  no  long-cherished 
prejudices  in  favor  of  unscientific  methods  of  farm- 
ing to  shake  olf — methods  which  too  many  farmers 
venerate  simply  because  they  were  followed  by  their 
fathers  —  and  hence  they  were  prepared  to  adopt  the 
best  courses,  and  follow  the  paths  that  scientific  re- 
search have  demonstrated  to  lead  to  success. 

Another  and  we  are  inclined  to  think  more  active 


196  STATE    OF    AGRICULTURE, 

cause  in  retarding  the  progress  of  agriculture  in  this 
country  than  any  we  have  hitherto  mentioned,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  too  great  diffusion  of  agricuUural  capi- 
tal and  labor  ;  or.  in  other  words,  we  cultivate  too 
much  land  to  tiave  what  we  pretend  to  do  well  done. 
The  desire  of  great  farms  is  a  distinguishing  trait  of 
the  American  farmer.  As  fast  as  he  acquires  capital, 
he  spends  it  in  purchasing  more  land.  When  there  is 
no  longer  any  adjoining  him  to  be  purchased,  he  goes 
to  the  wide  west,  and  expends  his  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands in  buying  prairie  sections,  or  "  corner  lots  "  in 
some  of  the  multitude  of  cities  there  are  promised  in 
that  broad  region  :  he  may  be  making  money  by  this 
process  :  he  may  be  acquiring  wealth  for  his  children 
to  differ  about ;  but,  nine  times  out  of  ten,  his  system 
of  agriculture  is  barbarous,  his  method  of  living  scan- 
dalous, and  his  farm  is  the  very  reverse  of  neatness  and 
order.  We  cannot  expect  that  a  man  will  spend  his 
capital  in  beautifying  and  putting  his  farm  in  order, — 
in  planting,  and  draining,  and  repairing,  —  when  such 
expenditures  will  not  repay  him  more  than  seven  per 
cent.  ;  when,  by  purchasing  more  or  new  lands,  there 
is  a  probability  that  thirty  or  fifty  may  be  realized.  It 
requires  too  great  an  etfort  of  self-denial  to  see  our 
neighbors  enlarging  their  domains  to  the  size  of  a 
German  principality,  while  we  are  expected  to  be  con- 
tent with  some  two  or  four  hundred  acres.  We  have, 
as  a  body  of  farmers,  yet  to  learn  that  the  products  of 
a  small  farm,  in  proportion  to  the  capital  invested,  are 
usually  greater  than  on  large  farms.  We  have  yet  to 
acquire  a  taste  for  small,  neat,  well-finished  and  well- 
furnished  houses,  in  preference  to  the  enormous  "  shin- 
gle palaces  "  which  we  take  such  a  delight  in  erecting  ; 
and  when  shall  we  learn  that  a  few  acres,  well  fenced, 
kept  clean  of  foul  weeds,  and  growing  richer  and  more 
productive  yearly,  is  better  than  many  acres  with  the 
fences  rotted  or  thrown  down,  the  fields  and  the  crops 
choked  with  pernicious  weeds,  and  the  soil,  from  the 


MILDEW    ON    GRAPES. 


197 


wretched  course  of  cultivation,  annually  deteriorating 
in  value  and  productiveness.  It  is  a  very  poor  plan  in 
farmers  to  wear  out  and  impoverish  what  land  they 
have,  because  they  can  buy  more  :  better  raise  a  few 
acres  to  the  height  of  fertility,  place  it  in  perfect  order, 
and  then,  if  there  is  auy  surplus  capital,  after  attend- 
ing to  the  moral  and  intellectual  wants  of  the  family, 
it  may  be  expended  in  more  lands  to  be  gradually 
brought  to  the  same  state. 


MILDEW   ON   GRAPES. 


A.  J.  Downing,  a  good  authority,  states,  in  the  Hor- 
ticultural Magazine,  that  foreign  grapes,  as  the  Sweet- 
water, Chasselas,  &c.  may  be  preserved  from  mildew, 
by  securing  an  annual  succession  of  new  plants,  which 
is  effected  with  very  little  trouble,  by  laying  a  thrifty 
shoot  of  the  old  vine  in  June,  of  some  five  to  eight 
feet  in  length,  which  takes  root  and  produces  fruit  for 
one  or  two  seasons,  not  subject  to  mildew.  The  layer 
is  separated  the  next  season,  and  the  old  plant  dug  up 
and  thrown  away.  It  is  a  common  remark,  that  the 
foreign  grape  will  be  free  from  mildew  one  or  two 
seasons  after  it  comes  into  bearing,  but  that  it  is  after- 
wards subject  to  mildew.  The  cause  has  not  been 
satisfactorily  explained.  The  finest  vine  of  a  foreign 
grape  which  we  ever  saw  grew  in  the  garden  of  the 
late  Judge  Scott,  of  Catskill.  We  saw  it,  several  suc- 
cessive years,  when  the  fruit  was  at  maturity,  and  it 
had  no  appearance  of  mildew.  This  exemption  from 
mildew  the  judge  ascribed  to  the  circumstance  of  his 
having  placed  a  large  flat  stone  in  the  bottom  of  the 
hole  before  planting  his  vine,  and  which  prevented  the 
roots  from  penetrating  the  subsoil,  the  conjectural 
cause  of  the  mildew. — Albany  Cultivator, 


198 


CALCULATION  :  MANAGEMENT. 


CALCULATION:  MANAGEMENT. 

On  passing  by  a  hay-field  the  other  day,  we  stopped 
to  see  the  calculation  of  a  couple  of  hired  men  who, 
with  the  aid  of  a  boy,  were  attempting  to  load  a  cart 
with  hay.  They  drove  the  cart  midway  between  the 
two  winrows  which  were  more  than  twenty  feet  apart. 
One  man  was  mounted  on  the  cart,  one  used  a  pitch- 
fork. This  man  was  obliged  to  carry  every  forkful 
not  less  than  eight  feet  to  reach  the  cart,  and  when  he 
had  pitched  a  while  on  one  side  he  was  obliged  to 
move  round  to  the  other  for  the  hay  of  the  other  win- 
row.  These  movements  gave  opportunity  to  the  man 
on  the  cart  to  stand  still  one  half  his  time  and  more. 
But  to  balance  this,  the  boy  who  was  raking  after  the 
cart  had  twice  as  much  labor  before  him  as  he  could 
perform,  for  the  cart  was  so  distant  from  each'winrow 
that  the  scatterings  were  strown  nearly  over  the  whole 
ground. 

The  boy  fell  in  the  rear,  and  the  farther  the  team  ad- 
vanced the  more  hopeless  was  the  case  of  the  boy,  for 
he  was  getting  farther  off  from  the  place  of  deposit  for 
his  scatterings.  We  could  not  but  inquire  of  the  men 
why  they  did  not  drive  close  by  one  winrow,  then 
c/ose  by  the  other;  in  which  case  they  would  make 
but  little  scattering  for  the  boy,  and  would  leave  the 
man  on  the  load  no  leisure  to  look  up  and  see  how 
high  the  sun  was. 

The  pitchfork  man  asked  us,  with  a  smile,  if  we 
thought  we  could  pitch  better.  We  took  the  fork 
from  his  yielding  hand,  hawed  the  team  close  to  the 
winrow,  tossed  on  the  hay  in  small  forksful,  ''  many 
and  not  far  bet  ween, '^^  so  as  to  allow  the  man  on  the 
load  no  leisure  to  be  calling  on  the  boy  behind  "  to 
spring  to."  When  this  winrow  was  finished,  we  turned 
about  and  drove  close  to  the  next,  beginning  to  pitch 
from  the  head  of  the  cattle^  and  going  back  each  time  sa 


EARLY    CUT    CLOVER,  199 

as  to  meet  the  boy  at  the  tail  of  the  cart  with  his 
scatterings,  instead  of  keeping  him  constantly  at  a 
distance  from  the  cart.  We  thus  met  him  every  time 
before  we  started  the  team. 

Before  we  had  finished  loading,  the  owner  came  into 
the  field,  and  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  our  man- 
agement he  said  we  might  put  down  his  name  for  our 
paper  for  one  year,  though  he  already  took  four  papers, 
and  more  by  half  than  he  could  read. 


EARLY  CUT  CLOVER. 


In  1818,  when  living  on  the  banks  of  the  Kennebec, 
in  Maine,  we  had  a  fine  piece  of  clover  that  we  feared 
would  grow  too  rank  to  be  relished  by  our  cattle.  We 
therefore  mowed  it  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  June  when 
not  one  half  the  heads  had  blown  fully  out. 

We  suflered  it  to  lie  in  the  sun  for  three  days,  turn- 
ing it  over  just  at  night,  to  bring  the  greenest  side  up 
to  take  the  dews.  On  the  third  day  it  was  raked  and 
carted.  W^e  never  had  better  hay.  We  cannot  say  we 
saved  all  the  heads  and  the  leaves,  but  we  looked  to 
the  main  chance  ;  we  saved  the  stalks  — the  substance 
—  and  our  cattle  would  insist  on  eating  them  all. 

In  feeding  out  this  hay,  we  could  not  but  note  the 
difi'erence  between  a  forkful  of  it  and  a  forkful,  of  hay 
cut  late.  It  was  apparently  one  third  heavier.  Our 
cattle  never  throve  better  on  any  hay,  and  their  manure, 
not  black  as  when  their  keeping  is  poor,  on  late  cut 
hay,  looked  precisely  as  if  they  had  been  kept  partially 
on  Indian  meal. 

In  1807,  when  travelling  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
we  paid  the  utmost  attention  to  the  keeping  of  our 
horse.  We  did  not  like  the  appearance  of  the  hay  at 
one  of  the  inns  where  we  stopped  on  the  eastern  banks 
of  the  Hudson.     We  called  for  some  of  their  early  cut 


200  INSECTS    ON    FRUIT-TREES  INQUIRY. 

hay.  ''O  bless  ye,"  said  the  landlord,  ^'the  late  cut 
hay  is  far  the  best."  He  could  not  make  us  believe  it, 
however,  and  we  insisted  on  some  that  was  earliest 
mown.  He,  as  well  as  many  others  in  that  part  of  our 
country,  we  afterwards  learned,  was  seriously  of  the 
opinion  that  their  late  cut  hay  was  best ! 

In  our  vicinity  we  usually  choose  to  cut  herds-grass 
(timothy)  when  full  in  the  blow,  and  we  have  little 
doubt  it  is  relished  best  when  cut  at  that  time.  If 
suffered  to  stand  longer,  until  the  seeds  are  matured,  it 
may  have  more  heart  in  it,  and  answer  a  better  purpose 
to  be  chopped  up  fine  for  mixing  with  grain.  In  such 
case  it  causes  greater  exhaustion  of  the  soil. 


[From  the  Genesee  Farmer.] 

INSECTS  ON  FRUIT-TREES  — maUIRY. 

Mr.  Tucker,  —  Not  long  since,  I  noticed  on  some 
of  my  fruit-trees  some  insects  somewhat  resembling 
lice.  I  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  them,  thinking 
they  could  not  do  much  injury  if  I  let  them  remain. 
But  I  found  they  were  going  to  injure  my  trees,  if  not 
remedied  soon.  I  asked  some  of  my  brother  farmers 
respecting  these  insects,  but  they  were  as  ignorant  as 
myself.  Therefore  I  concluded  I  would  send  the 
above  inquiries  to  you,  and  have  some  of  your  corre- 
spondents inform  me  of  a  sure  remedy,  that  will  destroy 
the  insects,  which  are  so  prevalent  at  the  present  time 
upon  our  fruit-trees,  and  oblige  your  friend,  &c. 

South  Venice,  N.  Y.  June  6,  1839.  W.  S.  T. 

Strong  lie  is  the  best  thing  we  ever  tried  to  destroy 
lice  on  fruit-trees.  It  proves  effectual  if  we  use  one 
pound  of  good  potash  for  three  quarts  of  water.  —  Ed. 


SUCKERING    CORN.  201 


SUCKERING  CORN. 


We  hope  more  experiments  will  be  made  to  try  the 
effect  of  pulling  off  suckers  from  corn.  For  ourselves, 
we  think  it  injurious,  but  we  have  made  no  great  trial 
of  it.  A  few  years  ago  we  had  a  fine  looking  field  of 
corn,  from  which  we  hoped  for  nearly  one  hundred 
bushels  to  the  acre.  It  was  a  large  kind  of  eight- 
rowed  corn. 

It  grew  very  rank,  and  we  were  satisfied  that,  in  con- 
sequence, it  was  quite  too  thick:  the  hills  were  three 
feet  apart  each  way  ;  many  suckers  shot  out  from  the 
bottom  ;  and,  when  the  corn  was  six  to  seven  feet  high, 
we  pulled  off  every  sucker,  in  order  to  admit  the  air 
and  light  more  freely.  These  suckers  were  from  two 
to  three  feet  in  length. 

We  have  always  fancied  we  hurt  our  corn  by  this 
process,  but  we  left  none  unsuckered,  and  cannot  be 
positive.  Soon  after,  we  learned  that  others  had  tried 
the  experiment  with  a  like  result,  and  it  was  noted  by 
them  as  well  as  by  us  that  the  corn  eared  out  remarka- 
bly high.  Whether  this  suckering  could  have  this 
effect  we  cannot  say,  but  we  had  a  much  less  crop  than 
the  stalks  gave  promise  of,  and  believe  we  injured  it 
by  pulling  off  the  suckers,  notwithstanding  the  corn 
was  too  thick. 

In  reasoning  upon  the  practice,  we  are  led  to  think 
it  injurious  to  pluck  off  the  suckers  after  they  have 
grown  large.  When  the  ear  is  filling,  a  draft  is  made 
upon  all  the  parts  of  the  stalk  for  ^its  surplus  juices, 
and,  as  there  is  a  free  communication  between  all  the 
branches  of  the  stalk,  we  see  not  why  it  should  not  be 
as  injurious  to  pluck  off  the  full-grown  suckers  before 
the  ear  is  filled,  as  to  cut  off  the  stalks  above  the  ear 
while  there  are  any  juices  in  them  that  may  be 
drafted  to  make  the  ear  full. 

Many  experiments  should  be  tried,  at  difterent  sea- 
18 


202  CATTLE. 

sons,  in  the  growth,  before  we  shall  be  able  to  declare 
positively  as  to  the  effect  of  plucking  off  the  suckers. 

We  think  we  often  err  in  suffering  too  many  stalks 
to  stand  in  a  hill.  Of  the  middle-sized  corn,  two 
stalks  in  a  hill  are  sufficient  when  the  hills  are  two 
feet  apart  in  the  rows.  If  two  many  are  allowed  to 
stand,  there  will  be  many  stalks  without  a  single  ear. 


CATTLE. 

Improving  the  breed  of  live  stock  is  as  necessary  for 
the  farmer  as  the  proper  cultivation  of  a  field  for 
wheat,  corn,  or  any  other  crop;  for,  according  to  the 
present  improved  system  of  farming,  there  is  such  a 
connection  between  the  cultivation  of  ground  and 
breeding,  rearing,  and  fattening  cattle,  sheep,  and  other 
domestic  animals,  that  a  man  will  make  but  an  indif- 
ferent figure  in  rural  affairs,  if  he  does  not  understand 
the  latter  as  well  as  the  former. 

Our  breeds  of  horned  cattle,  particularly,  are  too 
little  attended  to,  yet  they  should  receive  the  primary 
attention  of  our  agriculturists.  In  the  best  cultivated 
countries  of  Europe,  this  subject  receives  that  attention 
which  its  importance  demands ;  and  to  such  perfection 
have  they  brought  their  breeds  of  cattle,  as  to  render 
them  worthy  to  be  sought  after  in  the  diflerent  parts 
of  the  world,  and  to  insure  for  them  enormous  prices. 

In  our  own  country,  particularly  in  the  northern  and 
eastern  States,  the  raising  and  improving  the  breed  of 
cattle  is  considered  as  a  matter  of  the  first  importance 
with  the  farmer.  The  different  agricultural  societies 
established  in  those  parts  of  the  Union  (which  are 
doing  great  good)  spare  no  exertions,  by  offering 
premiums,  and  the  establishment  of  cattle-shows,  to 
diffuse  among  the  people  a  spirit  of  improving  the 
breeds  of  their  cattle. 


CATTLE. 


203 


In  improving  the  breed  of  cattle,  the  objects  had  in 
view  should  be  attended  to,  as  there  are  different 
breeds  adapted  to  different  purposes. 

A  breed  of  cattle,  equally  well  adapted  to  the 
butcher,  to  the  dairy,  and  to  the  plough  or  cart,  is  no- 
where to  be  met  with  ;  and,  so  far  as  experience  enables 
us  to  judge,  these  properties  are  hardly  consistent  with 
each  other,  and  belong  to  animals  of  different  forms 
and  proportions.  It  should  be  the  object  of  farmers  to 
have  all  their  stocks  of  animals  of  the  best  breeds,  and 
to  study  useful  qualities  more  than  showy  figures. 
Yet  well-proportioned  and  sightly  animals  are  generally 
the  most  valuable,  both  as  it  regards  usefulness  and 
keep.  There  are  exceptions,  in  dairy  cows  particu- 
larly. Hardihood  and  easiness  of  keep  should  always 
be  prominent  qualities  in  any  breed  of  cattle. 

The  value  of  horned  cattle  Avili  increase  in  2^1'opor- 
tion  to  the  manner  in  which  we  manage  them  to  se- 
cure their  dung.  During  the  spring  and  summer  they 
should  be  regularly  penned  at  night,  on  such  parts  of 
the  farm  as  may  need  improvement  ;  observing  to 
plough  up  these  pens  immediately  on  the  removal  of 
the  cattle,  to  secure  their  manure  against  loss  from  the 
evaporarion  of  the  sun  and  washing  rains.  The  size 
of  the  pens,  and  the  time  they  should  stand  in  them 
before  removed,  will  be  regulated  by  the  number  of 
the  cattle,  and  their  condition  ;  and,  in  hot  weather, 
the  pens  should  not  stand  longer  than  two  weeks  be- 
fore ploughed  up,  at  most.-  In  winter,  as  has  been 
before  observed,  they  should  have  a  comfortable  shel- 
ter, closed  at  every  point,  except  at  the  south,  which 
should  open  into  the  farm-yard.  Corn-stalks  are  the 
first  food  given  to  them  ;  and  the  greatest  diligence 
should  be  used  in  conveying  them  early  to  the  farm- 
yard, because  they  lose  more  from  evaporation,  stand- 
ing in  the  field,  than  the  other  articles  of  food,  viz.  the 
shucks  tops,  &c.  which  should  be  reserved  fbr  later 
periods. 


204  SALT    WATER    FOR    CLEANSING    WOOL. 

The  cattle  should  be  employed  in  manuring  the 
distant  parts  of  the  farm,  while  the  horses  and  other 
domestic  stock  are  manuring  at  home. 

The  farm-pens  of  the  farmer  should  be  situated  with 
an  eye  to  the  convenience  of  the  field  from  whence 
the  stales  are  to  be  hauled,  and  that  are  to  be  manured 
and  cultivated  the  ensuing  year.  It  is  better  to  make  a 
lane  of  considerable  length  to  conduct  the  cattle  to 
water,  than  to  omit  this  convenience. 

Many  farms,  too,  unfortunately  abound  with  parcels 
of  exhausted  land,  which  are  turned  out,  or  are  unin- 
closed,  to  recover  w^hat  improvement  they  can:  these 
lanes  may  be  enclosed  as  pasturage  for  cattle  ;  and,  by 
taking  in  some  woodland,  they  will  afford  the  cattle, 
in  the  spring  and  summer,  shrubs  and  coarse  grass 
sufficient  to  constitute  tolerable  good  pastme,  and  far 
better  than  that  from  arable  or  cultivated  fields,  which 
are  generally  scanty  of  grass  lintil  towards  the  fall  ; 
and  if  meadows  have  been  provided  for  grazing  in  the 
fall,  they  will  sustain  the  cattle  until  the  period  arrives 
for  their  being  put  up  in  their  winter  habitation. 
These  hints  for  the  management  of  cattle  have  been 
thrown  out  for  the  consideration  of  those  who  may 
hesitate  to  adopt  the  enclosing  system,  under  the  appre- 
hension that,  if  their  stock  are  excluded  from  grazing 
their  arable  fields,  no  other  resource  will  be  left  for 
them. —  Franklin  Farmer. 


SALT    WATER  FOR   CLEANSING   WOOL. 

Jt  has  been  found  that  salt  water  is  very  efficacious 
in  cleansing  fine  wool  from  the  gummy  or  glutinous 
matter  wl)ich  adheres  to  it.  About  a  pint  of  salt  dis- 
solved in  a  common  wash-tub  of  water  is  said  to  be 
sufficient. 


CULTURE    OF    STRAWBERRIES,  2Ct5 


CULTURE  OF  STRAWBERRIES. 

Mr.  DillEj  editor  of  the  Farmer's  Register  at  New- 
ark, Ohio,  has  kindly  published  his  successful  mode  of 
strawberry  cuhure.  We  copy  it,  trusting  that  some  of 
our  ajood  friends  may  be  benefited  by  his  experience. 

Mr.  Dille  says,  —  we  have  been  requested  by  seve- 
ral of  our  friends  to  give  our  system  of  raising  straw- 
berries in  detail.  As  we  have  been  very  successful  in 
this  culture,  we  at  least  feel  a  confidence  in  our  mode 
of  proceeding. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  preparation  of  the  soil 
must  precede  the  planting.  It  is  not  the  richest,  but  a 
proper  soil  that  is  required.  New  land  is  generally  in 
a  right  condition.  If  it  be  old,  to  a  bed  of  fifty  feet 
long  by  twenty  in  breadth,  give  about  four  or  five  cart- 
loads of  rotten  wood  or  leaves  and  wood  from  the 
woods,  six  cart-loads  of  cow-yard  or  hog-pen  manure, 
well  rotted  ;  put  this  upon  the  soil,  and  spade  it  in  deep, 
mixing  in  well  from  the  surface  down.  In  spading, 
see  that  the  earth  is  all  loose  and  mellow,  so  that  the 
roots  will  have  no  difficulty  in  striking  wide  and  deep. 
Instead  of  a  high  bed,  which  will  be  dry,  make  it  low 
enough  to  receive  and  retain  the  rains  which  may  fall, 
but  not  so  low  as  to  have  standing  water  or  pools.  A 
dam  is  frequently  raised  around  the  beds  of  earth, 
which  is  broken  down  after  the  fruit  begins  to  form, 
that  the  bed  may  be  reasonably  dry  whilst  it  is  ripen- 
ing. A  dry  bed  and  dry  weather  give  the  sweetest 
and  most  fragrant  fruit. 

Choice  of  Kinds.  We  have  cultivated  the  common 
scarlet,  the  English  scarlet,  and  the  wood  or  field 
strawberry.  The  first  bears  best  with  us ;  the  last 
bears  well,  and  is  the  most  delicious. 

Time  of  Planting.  March,  April,  May,  August, 
September,  or  October.  We  would  advise,  in  this 
country,  that  plantations  should  be  made  in  April  or 
18* 


206 


CULTURE     OF    STRAWBERRIES. 


September.  Our  planting  in  March  has  sometimes 
failed,  and  it  is  desirable  that  the  plants  should  have 
extended  their  roots  well  in  the  earth  before  the  frost 
comes  on  in  the  winter.  Hence  September  would  be 
preferable  to  October,  for  autumnal  planting,  and 
better  than  August,  as  there  is  a  greater  probability  of 
the  new  plantation  being  well  watered  by  the  fall  rains. 

After  Culture.  Keep  the  ground  always  loose  or 
mellow,  and  free  from  weeds.  Let  nothing  else,  un- 
less it  be  some  shrubs,  as  roses,  &c.  be  permitted  to 
grow  on  the  gronnd  with  the  plants.  After  the  run- 
ners have  covered  the  bed  with  young  plants,  our 
method  is,  to  go  through  the  beds  with  a  spade,  and 
turn  up  the  earth,  plants  and  all,  one  spade  width, 
burying  the  plants  completely  under,  and  then  leaving 
a  spade's  width,  and  so  on  till  we  pass  through  the  bed 
in  one  direction.  This  we  do  twice  a  year,  in  March 
and  Augnst ;  and  the  second  time  we  pass '  through 
the  bed  the  other  way,  so  as  to  leave  the  plants  in 
little  squares  in  the  bed,  when  there  will  be  jnst  about 
enongh  to  cover  the  ground  properly ;  and  by  this 
means  the  earth  will  always  be  kept  mellow.  The 
spade  should  be  about  seven  inches  wide.  After  this 
operation  in  March,  let  the  bed  be  lightly  covered  with 
tan-bark,  forest  leaves,  or  short  straw,  for  the  fruit  to 
rest  upon  and  keep  it  clean.  Oat  straw  should  not  be 
used,  as  it  is  apt  to  mildew  the  fruit.  This  covering 
should  be  spaded  in  as  a  manure  in  August. 

When  in  blossom,  you  can  easily  determine  what 
portion  of  your  plants  are  bearers.  Those  which  will 
not  bear  produce  large  flowers,  with  long,  showy 
stamens,  holding  high  their  black  anthers ;  whilst 
those  Vi/hich  will  bear  have  short  stamens,  and  a  great 
number  of  pistils,  and  flowers  are  every  way  less 
showy.  If  the  non-beaters  are  very  numerous,  many, 
not  all,  should  be  pulled  out.  Tf  the  weather  is  dry 
during  the  flowering  season,  the  beds  should  be  slight- 
ly watered  every  evening,  to  set  the  fruit ;  but  when  it 
begins  to  ripen,  keep  them  dry  as  possible. 


PRUNING.  207 

The  beds  should  be  about  three  feet  wide,  for  the 
convenience  of  gathering  the  fruit,  without  trani|)ing 
down  the  soil.  Never  use  stable  or  horse  manure, 
unless  it  be  well  rotted.  In  spading,  select  the  old 
plants  to  turn  under,  and  keep  a  succession  of  new 
ones  for  bearers.  —  Franklin  Farmer. 


PRUNING. 

A  GREAT  variety  of  experiments  made  in  Europe  by 
Knight,  Van  Mons,  and  Thaer,  and  in  this  country  by 
Buel,  Kenrick,  and  others,  have  been  made  on  the 
subject  of  pruning  trees:  though  the  results  did  not 
perfectly  agree  on  all  points,  yet  they  seem  to  fully 
justify  the  general  conclusion,  that  the  best  time  for 
pruning  trees  is  that  period  iu  midsummer  in  which 
there  appears  a  cessation  of  the  sap's  ascent,  and  which 
lasts  some  three  or  four  weeks.  Those  who  have  paid 
attention  to  the  growth  of  trees  must  have  remarked 
that  the  period  of  increase  is  divided  into  two  seasons, 
during  the  first  of  which,  or  the  one  most  active, 
the  shoots  that  form  fruit,  flower,  or  seed-buds  are 
formed;  and  the  other,  or  later  summer's  growth,  is 
confined  to  the  shoots  that  produce  wood- buds  only. 
"  After  the  second  growth  is  completed,  the  efi'ects  of 
the  descending  sap,  in  the  formation  of  new  bark,  is 
-apparent  in  the  healing  up  of  new  wounds  in  parts  of 
the  stem  or  branches,  vvdiich  now  proceeds  with  more 
activity  than  during  any  other  season  of  the  year. 
Branches  pruned  off  smooth  at  the  stem,  though  the 
latter  be  young,  healthy,  and  containing  a  perfect 
pitch,  before  or  shortly  after  the  completion  of  the 
midsummer's  growth,  do  not  produce  shoots  from  the 
edge  of  the  wounds  caused  by  their  removal,  which 
always  happens  more  or  less  when  pruning  is  per- 
formed on  free-growing  trees  after  the  fall  of  the  leaf, 


208 


FACTS    FOR    FARftlERS. 


and  before  the  full  developement  of  the  spring  shoots 
and  leaves.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  re- 
production of  branches  from  the  edge  of  the  wound  is 
greatly  assisted  by  leaving  a  portion  of  the  branch  or 
shoot  on  the  parent  branch  or  stem." — Treatise  on 
Planting. 

The  end  desired  to  be  attained  by  the  operation  of 
pruning  must  be  kept  steadily  in  view,  or  injury,  in- 
stead of  benefit,  may  be  the  result.  If  the  tree  is  in- 
tended for  timber,  the  leaves  and  buds  that  elaborate 
the  sap,  and  increase  the  trunk  by  the  formation  of  an 
annual  circle  of  new  wood,  should  be  kept  as  far  from 
the  root  as  possible,  as  in  this  way  only  can  the  greatest 
quantity  of  timber  be  produced.  In  this  case,  the 
trunk  should  be  kept  free  from  branches,  the  leading 
shoots  should  carefully  be  preserved,  and  the  top  kept 
in  a  crown-like  form.  Nature  must  be  followed  in 
this  respect,  and  the  tall,  beautiful  trunks  of  oui*  native 
forest  trees  will  be  the  result.  For  fruit,  a  low,  branch- 
ing top,  spread  and  exposed  to  the  sun  as  widely  as 
can  be,  is  to  be  preferred  ;  and  hence  the  leading  shoot, 
when  the  tree  is  at  a  proper  height,  must  be  carefully 
cut  out,  and  the  lateral  branches  cut  and  pruned  with 
direct  reference  to  this  eflect.  Fruit-trees  must  be 
pruned  frequently,  or  their  tops  become  woody,  close, 
and  the  fruit  will  necessarily  prove  inferior. —  Genesee 
Farmer. 


FACTS    FOR    FARMERS. 


It  is  a  fact  that  some  cows  will  make  three  times  as 
much  butter  as  others  of  the  same  size,  and  with  the 
same  keeping.  It  is  a  fact  that  some  breeds  of  swine 
will  make  a  ton  of  pork  out  of  half  the  keeping  Avhich 
is  required  for  other  breeds. 

It  is  a  fact  that  some  ploughs  require  twice  as  much 


FACTS    FOR    FARMERS. 


209 


team  as  others,  and  yet  do  not  perform  the  work  so 
well.  It  is  a  fact  that  some  farms  of  fifty  acres  produce 
more  than  some  others  of  one  hundred  acres. 

Is  it  not  worth  oiu'  while  to  make  inquiry  into  the 
causes  of  these  differences,  and  to  devise  a  mode  of 
equalization  ?  And,  first,  as  to  our  breeds  of  cattle. 
We  will  make  no  over  statements.  We  know  there  is 
abundance  of  testimony  that  we  have  native  cows 
which  will  make  more  than  fomteen  pounds  of  butter 
per  week  each,  and  we  all  know  we  have  a  great  num- 
ber of  cows  that  will  not  make  five  pounds  each. 
With  these  facts  staring  us  in  the  face,  shall  we  not 
cast  out  those  that  will  not  pay  the  expense  of  keeping, 
and  introduce  better  breeds  ? 

We  would  not  be  understood  as  making  compari- 
sons with  any  foreign  breeds  of  cattle.  Thc^se  who 
prefer  them  may  make  the  trial,  and  may  improve  by 
crossings  ;  but  we  would  improve  our  native  breeds, 
and  select  the  very  best.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of 
the  practicability  of  producing  a  herd  from  our  native 
stock  that  shall,  in  a  very  few  generations,  be  sure  to 
prove  of  the  true  blood  of  the  ancestors.  We  have 
yet  made  no  trial  in  this  country;  but,  knowing  what 
has  been  done  elsewhere,  we  can  now  proceed  with 
confidence,  having  our  path  lighted  by  lamps  that 
have  gone  before. 

The  course  of  commerce  between  Massachusetts  and 
the  interior  has  for  many  years  been  imfavorable  to  the 
improvement  of  our  neat  stock  and  of  our  swirie.  In 
the  vicinity  of  our  cities  we  have  found  it  more  profit- 
able to  slay  all  and  eat  all  our  young  neats  at  an  early 
age,  than  to  rear  them;  while,  in  the  interior,  where 
keeping  was  che^.p,  and  there  was  no  market  for 
veal,  the  whole  progeny  of  the  neat  cattle  has  been 
reared,  without  the  least  regard  to  synunetry  of  form 
or  promise  of  excellence.  All  must  perceive  that,  by 
proceeding  in  this  manner,  we  can  make  no  improve- 
ment in  our  stock. 


210  FACTS    FOR    FARMERS. 

But  a  better  era  begins  to  dawn  upon  us  :  for,  since 
it  is  found  that  the  most  excellent  of  oiu'  own  cows 
will  command  a  price  bearing  some  proportion  to  the 
good  qualities  of  the  animal,  the  best  will  be  snatched 
from  the  butcher  and  reared,  and  inferior  animals, 
from  the  interior,  will  bring  only  such  prices  as  may- 
justify  their  purchase  for  beef.  The  whole  tendency 
of  the  operation  will  be  in  favor  of  selections,  both 
here  and  in  the  interior,  of  the  best  animals  for  rearing. 

But  we  hope  and  trust  we  shall  not  be  content  with 
this  slow  mode  of  approximating  to  a  perfect  breed  of 
neat  stock.  Since  farmers  are  becoming  convinced  of 
the  superiority  of  the  best  of  our  native  stock  over  the 
poorest,  they  will  lend  their  aid  to  those  who  shall  be- 
gin in  earnest  to  rear  only  from  the  best  animals. 

We  are  fully  satisfied  that  no  branch  of  farming 
could  be  pursued  to  greater  profit,  even  within  a  few 
miles  of  Boston,  than  that  of  rearing  the  best  of  neat 
stock  that  can  be  selected  from  our  native  breeds  ;  and 
we  are  pleased  that  one  gentleman  at  least,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Boston,  is  determined  to  prove  what 
may  be  done  by  crosses  of  our  very  best  native  cows 
with  an  English  bull,  of  the  Ayreshire  breed,  which  is 
of  fine  form,  and  was  not  selected  for  his  great  size, 
but  for  his  good  qualities. 

We  sincerely  hope  others  will  be  induced  to  imitate 
his  example,  so  far  at  least  as  a  selection  of  our  best 
native  stock  is  concerned,  and  that  not  only  the  fe- 
males but  the  best  males  will  be  selected  and  kept 
from  other  herds,  until  we  can  be  supplied  with  an  im- 
proved breed  that  shall  rival  the  best  that  has  ever 
been  reared. 

By  breeding  from  the  very  best  males  and  females 
only,  we  may  be  quite  certain  in  a  short  time  to  raise 
up  a  perfect  stock.  We  well  know  ''  a  good  cow  may 
have  a  bad  calf;  "  but  ten  good  cows,  with  a  male  of 
the  right  breed,  will  have  eight  or  nine  good  calves, 
^nd  the  descendants  of  these  will  be  more  likely  to  be 


FLAT    TURNIP.  211 

of  the  true  breed,  and  so  on  :  the  farther  we  progress 
the  more  sure  we  may  be  of  a  correct  resiiU. 

And  what  an  acquisition  to  the  farmer  and  to  the 
community  to  possess  herds  that  will  give  us  thrice 
the  milk  which  our  stock  at  present  supplies  ! 

The  average  expense  of  keeping  a  cow  on  hay  and 
grass,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  for  a  number  of  years 
past,  may  be  stated  at  not  less  than  thirty  dollars  each. 
The  average  value  of  her  milk,  made  into  butter,  may 
be  one  hundred  and  forty  weight,  or  seven  pounds 
per  week  for  twenty  weeks  ;  or,  at  nine  quarts  per  day, 
9  X  140  =  1260  quarts,  and  this  at  four  cents  per 
quart  =  $50  40.  Thus  the  butter,  to  equal  the  milk, 
should  bring  thirty-six  cents  per  pound. 

We  have  yet  coimted  but  twenty  weeks'  milking ; 
but,  with  good  keeping,  cows  should  be  milked  not  less 
than  forty  weeks,  and,  if  turnips  and  grain  are  fed  out 
the  last  twenty  weeks,  will  give  half  as  much  as  in  the 
first  twenty.  The  produce  in  milk  might  then  be 
worth  $75 ;  in  butter,  at  the  common  market  price,  it 
would  be  one  third  less,  though  the  nicest  premium 
butter  has  often  brought  more  than  this  milk  would 
amount  to. 

We  think  it  quite  feasible  to  rear  cows  that  will  give 
double  this  quantity  of  milk  or  butter ;  and  how  valua- 
ble must  be  such  stock  ! 


FLAT    TURNIP. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivato?^  : 

Dear  Sir, — I  have,  for  three  or  four  years  past, 
taken  much  pains  to  raise  a  crop  of  the  flat  turnip,  but 
with  no  success.  I  have  prepared  my  land  early  and 
late,  have  sowed  my  seed  on  land  both  wet  and  dry, 
in  sunshine  and  shade,  also  in  rainy  weather ;  have 
harrowed,  raked,  hoed,  and  rolled  it  in,  but  to  ?io  pur- 


212  FLAT    TURNIP. 

pose.  I  do  not  say  that  I  got  a  poor  crop,  but  no  crop 
at  all.  I  sowed,  the  last  year,  about  two  acres  of  land, 
from  which  I  received  7iot  one  turnip  ;  nor  am  I  alone 
in  this  great  evil  ;  my  neighbors  (and  v^ho,  by  the  way, 
are  good  farmers)  make  the  same  complaint,  and  are 
unable  to  tell  the  cause.  Tn  most  cases  the  seed  has 
been  selected  as  the  best,  but  has  hardly  ever  made  its 
appearance  in  the  shape  of  a  turnip  top.  If  you  will 
give  me  any  information  on  this  subject,  so  that  I  may 
benefit  myself  as  well  as  my  neighbors,  you  shall,  to 
say  the  least,  receive  the  thanks  of  a  q  . 
Aiidover,  July  25,  18.)9. 

We  are  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  failure  —  a  total 
failure  it  seems  —  of  our  correspondent's  crop  of  tur- 
nips. We  have  often  raised  very  good  ones  among 
corn  by  sowing  the  seed  at  hilling  time  ;  that  is,  the 
last  hoeing.  Among  corn,  flat  turnips  are  quite  an  un- 
certain crop,  as  the  dews  seldom  fall  to  the  earth  when 
corn  is  heavy,  and  tiuniip-seed  must  soon  have  mois- 
ture after  it  is  sown,  or  it  will  not  vegetate. 

When  showers  come  soon  after  sowing,  we  have 
never  failed  of  a  good  harvest,  even  among  corn.   . 

The  seed  should  never  be  buried  deep  :  a  shower 
upon  it,  when  it  is  sown  on  fresh  earth,  makes  a  suf- 
ficient covering.  We  do  not  recollect  that  we  ever 
failed  of  a  crop  when  the  seed  was  sown  in  an  open 
field. 

Flat  turnip-seed  should  be  of  the  same  year's  growth, 
for  a  fall  harvest.  Seeds  one  year  old  are  not  sure  to 
vegetate.  We  think  not  one  in  four  ever  grows,  and 
we  commonly  sow  four  times  as  much  seed  when  it  is 
one  year  old  as  when  it  is  new.  Whether  any  of  it 
would  vegetate  at  two  years  old  we  are  not  sure. 

But  the  turnip  fly  is  a  rapid  and  sweeping  destroyer 
in  some  fields,  and  we  suspect  our  friend's  turnij  s  have 
had  some  company  of  this  kind. 

The  English   are   much  oftener  troubled   with  this 


COMPARATIVE    VALUE    OF    AGRICULTURE.  213 

insect,  and  their  remedy  is  to  sow  the  field  again  ;  for 
they  find  that,  by  repeated  sowings,  they  at  length  hit 
upon  a  season  when  the  fly  makes  no  attack. 

If  our  friend  from  Andover  has  sown  his  tnrnips  in 
an  open  field,  we  would  advise  him  to  sow  a  second 
time  ;  for  there  are  certain  days  on  which  the  seed 
may  be  sown  and  the  plant  not  be  cut  oflf  by  the  fly. 
A  close  examination  will  enable  him  to  determine 
whether  insects  are  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  — Ed. 


COMPARATIVE   VALUE   OF   AGRICULTURE. 

The  following  facts  are  gathered,  by  the  Albany 
Cultivator,  from  a  letter  of  James  McQ^ueen,  addressed 
to  Lord  Melbourne,  on  the  subject  of  the  corn  laws : 

Produce  of  British  AgricuUnre, 

Grain  of  all  sorts, £134,000,000 

Potatoes, , 20,000,000 

Hay,  grasses,  turnips,  straw, 120,::00,000 

Natural  pasture,  .     .     .     .     , 03,502,000 

Butcher's  meat,  pigs,  poultry,  game,  &c 82,283,759 

Fisheries,  food  from, 12,000,000 

Products  of  the  dairy,  vegetables  and  fruits, 48,500,000 

Allowed  for  consumption  of  farmers  in  some  articles  not 

enumerated, 2,500,000 

Wool,  hops,  seeds,  flax,  hemp,  and  timber, 22,479.166 

Mines,  minerals,  coals,  &c 33,970J276 

Total  produce  of  agriculture, £538^536,201 

The  capital  vested  in  and  the  charges  on  the  manufac- 
tures of  the  United  Kingdom  are  stated  to  amount, 

in  the  aggregate,  to £105,773,879 

And  their  total  produce,  per  annum, £259,412,702 

The  whole  capital  vested  in  agriculture,    ....    £3,258,910,810 
In  manufactures, £217,773,872 

or  fifteen  to  one  in  capital,  and  double  in  produce,  with 
this  further  superiority,  that,  in  the  agricultural  capital, 
it  is  all  fixed  and  real.  Agriculture  expends  noth- 
ing abroad,  while  manufacturers  pay  to  foreigners 
£20,000,000  annually  for  raw  materials. 
19 


214      COMPARATIVE  VALUE  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

Commerce. 
The  total  exports  for  1838  amounted 

To  foreign  countries,  to £37,833.000 

To  her  colonies,  to 15,53-2,566 


£53,365,566 

The  Cultivator  then  proceeds  to  say, — 
It  appears,  from  the  preceding  data,  that  the  capital 
invested  in  British  agriculture  is  fifteen  times  as  great 
as  that  which  is  invested  in  British  manufactures,  al- 
though the  latter  excel  in  magnitude  the  manufactures 
of  any  other  nation ;  that  British  agriculture  pays  most 
of  the  hurthens  of  the  government,  supports  a  privi- 
leged clergy,  and  contributes  more  than  thirty  millions 
of  dollars  annually  to  her  poor  rates  ;  that  its  products 
exceed  in  value  more  than  fourteen  times  the  whole 
amount  of  her  exports  to  foreign  countries,  although 
her  commerce  exceeds  that  of  any  other  nation  ;  and 
that  her  agricultural  capital  is  fixed  and  abiding  as  her 
islands,  while  the  capital  vested  in  her  commerce  and 
manufactures  is  subject  to  many  contingencies  which 
may  impair  or  destroy  it. 

Now  let  us  apply  these  facts  to  our  own  condition. 
We  will  assume  the  population  of  both  countries  to  be 
the  same.  Ten  millions,  or  one  half  of  her  popula- 
tion, are  assigned  to  agriculture.  With  the  collateral 
branches,  as  mines,  fisheries,  &c.  which  are  classed 
under  agriculture  by  Mr.  McQ^ueen,  fifteen  millions  of 
our  population  may  be  assigned  to  this  class.  And  the 
presumption  is,  that  our  agricultural  capital  and  agri- 
cultural products  overbalance  the  capital  and  products 
of  manufactures  and  commerce  as  much,  nay  more, 
than  they  do  in  Great  Britain.  From  this  view  of  the 
subject  it  ^vill  be  seen  that  agriculture  is  really  the 
GREAT  business  of  this  nation  ;  that  it  is  worthy  of  the 
most  liberal  patronage  of  our  governments,  state  and 
national ;  that  it  ought  to  be  enlightened  hy  a  better 
education  to  the  agricultural  class;  that  it  ought  to  be 
encouraged   and   patronized    by    public   bounties   and 


COMPARATIVE    VALUE     OF    AGRICULTURE.  215 

rewards ;  that  it  ought  to  be  respected  for  its  highly 
salutary  influence  upon  our  repubHcan  institutions,  and 
upon  the  good  order  of  society  ;  and,  finally,  that  it 
ought  to  be  honored  at  least  according  to  its  intrinsic 
merits,  that  it  may  be  more  followed  by  men  who 
have  minds  as  well  as  hands  to  accelerate  its  improve- 
ment. 

We  mean  no  disrespect,  by  these  remarks,  to  the 
merchant  or  the  manufacturer.  We  are  not  in  the 
way  of  believing  that  by  attempting  to  raise  one  class 
we  sink  the  other  classes.  Manufactures  and  com- 
merce are  the  hands  and  legs,  while  agriculture  is  the 
body.  They  are  reciprocally  useful  to  each  other. 
The  body  may  sustain  life  without  the  limbs,  but  the 
limbs  will  perish  without  the  aliment  which  they  de- 
rive from  the  body.  But  we  believe  the  other  classes 
have  numerous  and  efficient  advocates,  v/ho  are  able  to 
take  care,  and  who  do  take  care,  of  their  interests  ;  and 
that  agriculture  demeans  herself,  and  compromits  the 
best  interests  of  the  state  by  her  modest,  passive,  de- 
grading acquiescence  in  total  neglect.  We  wish  to 
raise  the  agriculturists  of  our  country  to  the  condition 
which  belongs  to  them,  to  that  of  intelligent,  prosper- 
ous, high-principled  men,  who  know  their  rights  and 
their  duties,  and  will  fearlessly  assert  the  one  and  faith- 
fully perform  the  other.  Then  will  our  agriculture  be 
made  to  double  and  treble  its  products,  to  compete  with 
the  agriculture  of  other  countries,  and  to  supply  all 
our  wants ;  then  will  party  interest  be  made- to  bend 
to  the  public  good,  and  riot  and  outrage  be  made  to 
give  place  to  law  and  good  order ;  then  shall  we  truly 
become  an  independent  nation,  rich  in  all  the  elements 
of  human  happiness.  Even  if  we  fail  in  all  these 
fond  anticipations,  we  can  lose  nothing  by  making 
the  effort.  We  must  be  gainers  in  a  less  or  greater 
degree. 


216  GQHRESPONDENCE- 


GORRESPONDENCE, 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator  : 

Dear  Sir,  — A  subscriber  to  your  valuable  paper  is 
desirous  to  know  when  is  the  proper  time  for  fall  seed- 
ing to  grass.  I  have  three  acres  of  ground  that  bore 
wheat,  and  oats,  and  barley  this  summer,  and  I  intend 
to  put  the  land  to  grass  this  fall. 

I  have  been  unlucky  in  spring  seeding,  for  my  land 
is  rather  dry,  and  when  I  take  off  my  grain  the  power- 
ful sun  of  August  is  apt  to  wither  my  grass  and  kill  it. 
If  you  have  any  experience  in  sowing  down  stubble- 
ground  ill  the  fall,  I  would  like  to  avail  myself  of  it. 
Respectfully  yours >  ^    „ 

Lunenburg,  August  8,  1839. 

We  have  often  experienced  the  difficulty  of  which 
our  correspondent  S.  H.  complains.  To  remedy  the 
evil,  we  sometimes  procure  ashes  at  the  rate  of  twenty 
bushels  to  the  acre,  and  sow  them  on  after  the  spring 
grain  and  the  grass-seed  have  made  their  appearance. 
This  matter  tends  to  keep  the  ground  moist,  and  it  does 
no  injury  to  the  grain.  We  have  sometimes  delayed 
sowing  our  grass-seed,  where  we  had  spring  grain,  until 
September  ;  then  we  have  ploughed  in  the  stubble  and 
sowed  our  herds-grass  and  our  red-top,  but  no  clover, 
until  winter.  It  has  sometimes  succeeded  well^  and 
sometimes  it  has  not.  We  would  rather  sow  our  grass^ 
seed  in  spring  with  our  grain  than  wait  until  fall. 

But  we  have  had  very  good  grass  by  fall  sowing. 
The  best  way  to  proceed  is  to  plough  but  one  acre  at  a 
time,  then  sow  it  immediately,  while  the  furrow  is 
fresh,  and  the  seed  is  more  likely  to  vegetate.  We 
have  no  difficulty  in  seeding  down  on  the  first  of 
September,  excepting  from  the  dryness  of  the  ground  ; 
and  the  sooner  we  can  put  in  the  seed  after  ploughing^ 
the  more  moisture  it  finds  in  the  earth.  — ^Ei), 


CORRESPONDENCE.  217 

Mr.  Buckminster,  —  I  am  but  a  recent  subscriber  to 
your  paper,  but  I  understand  you  practise  differently 
from  many  farmers  in  our  part  of  the  country  in  regard 
to  your  treatment  of  low  lands.  I  hear  that  you  are  in 
the  practice  of  ploughing  them  and  then  seeding  to 
grass  without  having  rotted  the  sod  ;  that  is,  that  you 
sow  your  grass  on  the  furrow,  and  without  sowing  any 
kind  of  grain  with  it.  If  this  be  so,  you  will  oblige  at 
least  one  subscriber  by  stating  what  has  been  your  suc- 
cess, and  whether  you  expect  a  crop  of  grass  large 
enough  for  mowing  the  next  season.  B. 

South  Andover,  August  6,  1839. 

In  answer  to  our  correspondent  from  South  Andover, 
we  can  say  we  have  for  some  years  been  in  the  practice 
of  sowing  down  all  kinds  of  land  in  the  fall  to  grass, 
and  without  going  through  the  process  of  planting. 
But  we  have  derived  the  greatest  benefit  from  thus 
treating  all  our  loiv  lands  where  the  plough  can  be 
made  to  run.  These  lands  can  never  be  planted  to 
any  advantage,  and  yet  they  want  to  be  moved  once  in 
a  few  years,  for  the  wild  grasses  will  creep  in  and  take 
the  place  of  better  company  unless  large  quantities  of 
manure  — more  than  we  can  spare  —  are  often  applied 
to  the  surface. 

We  formerly  practised  planting  such  land  either  with 
corn  or  with  potatoes  ;  but  we  uniformly  found  that 
when  we  sowed  it  down  to  grass  it  would  lie  dead  and 
heavy ;  and,  though  for  a  year  or  two  we  could  cut  a 
decent  crop,  it  would  soon  turn  wild  again,  and  we 
were  scarcely  repaid  our  labor  of  going  through  with 
this  long  process.  We  therefore  rather  chose  to  let 
such  lands  lie  and  yield  a  small  harvest,  than  to  waste 
our  strength  and  expend  our  manure  where  it  turned  to 
so  little  profit.  We  now  find  that,  when  managed  in  a 
proper  manner,  these  lands  are  the  best  of  any  for 
grass,  and  that  there  is  no  kind  of  need  to  plant  them  in 
order  to  get  them  into  the  best  of  grass. 
19* 


218  CORRESPONDENCE. 

We  choose  for  this  purpose  the  last  of  August  and  the 
first  of  September.  We  plough  one  acre,  or  one  day's 
work.  We  then  take  a  heavy  roller  and  flatten  down 
the  furrows  well,  so  that  the  harrow  shall  not  disturb 
them.  W^e  next  put  on  a  dozen  loads  of  compost 
manure — twenty  will  do  no  harm  —  spread  it  and 
harrow  it  in,  going  at  first  lengthwise  of  the  furrow, 
then  a  little  diagonally,  but  never  crosswise.  Next  we 
sow  one  peck  of  herds-grass,  and  one  bushel  of  red-top  : 
we  save  our  clover  to  be  thrown  on  in  Avinter.  We 
then  take  a  brush-harrow  and  cover  the  seed.  If  any 
sods  remain  on  the  surface,  on  account  of  the  imper- 
fection of  the  plough,  we  rake  these  into  the  dead  fur- 
rows in  a  few  minutes  with  the  common  hand-rake. 

We  do  not  wish  to  commence  earlier  than  this,  lest 
the  dry  weather  should  injure  t'  e  seed  ;  we  do  not 
choose  to  sow  later  than  the  middle  of  September,  lest 
we  should  make  our  crop  small  at  the  first  inowing. 
We  have  never  been  troubled  with  the  winter-killing 
of  our  grass  sown  in  this  way  ;  and  we  cut  from  one 
ton  to  a  ton  and  a  half  of  good  hay  on  an  acre  the  first 
season  after  sowing,  and  we  get  more  the  second  year. 
If  we  should  use  half  the  manure  that  we  take  for 
corn  or  potatoes,  we  could  cut  from  two  to  three  tons 
to  the  acre  the  first  season. 

By  this  procedure  we  lay  the  sod  under,  and  our 
land  is  light :  it  will  remain  light  much  longer  than 
when  pulverized  by  planting  :  then,  too,  wj  have  not 
exhausted  our  soil,  and  taken  off",  in  the  shape  of  corn 
or  potatoes,  all  the  virtue  of  the  manure,  but  we  have 
placed  under  th-e  sod  about  a  dozen  tons  of  rowen  and 
of  roots,  to  be  rotting  and  turning  to  English  grass  as 
we  want  it.  —  Ed. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator  : 

Sir,  —  I  have  seen  but  a  few  numbers  of  your 
paper,  but  I  have  often  heard  that  you  were  bred  a 
farmer  from  your  youth   up,  and  that  the  farmers  of 


CORRESPONDENCE.  219' 

your  town,  Framingham,  have  within  a  few  years 
made  great  improvements  on  their  low  lands  and  peat- 
swamps. 

With  us  such  lands  have  been  generally  neglected, 
and  they  yield  no  profit  whatever,  though  we  must 
fence  them  and  pay  the  taxes.  I  should  like  to  know 
your  modes  of  improving  such  lands  ;  to  learn  what  is 
the  best  time  of  year  to  engage  in  the  business,  and 
what  has  been  your  success. 

Yours,         A  Subscriber. 

Lunenburg,  Au%.  17,  1839. 

There  are  various  modes  of  reclaiming  these  low 
lands  and  peat-swamps,  and  each  one  may  be  best  in  a 
difterently  situated  swamp.  The  first  act  in  the 
drama  is  to  drain  off  the  surplus  water.  Nothing  can 
be  done  towards  raising  English  hay  in  a  wet  meadow. 
This  is  a  good  season  of  the  year  for  draining.  One 
central  ditch  is  often  sufficient  to  carry  off"  all  the 
water ;  and,  when  this  is  the  case,  it  is  mischievous  to 
multiply  ditches,  for  they  are  in  the  way  of  the  plough. 
Don't  smile,  friend,  at  the  idea  of  ploughing  your 
swamp,  which  now  your  dog  cannot  cross  with  safety  ! 
We  plough  our  meadows  as  soon  as  we  get  them 
.well  filled  with  English  grass-roots. 

But  some  meadows  are  kept  wet  by  means  of  springs 
that  issue  from  the  banks  on  the  their  borders.  When 
these  springs  abound,  it  is  good  to  run  side  ditches 
along  at  their  base,  and  thus  cut  them  off.  •  These 
ditches  should  be  cut  as  nearly  parallel  as  possible  with 
the  main  central  ditch,  or  with  each  other,  in  order  to 
cut  the  meadow  into  convenient  lands  for  ploughing. 

When  the  meadow  is  drained,  the  next  inquiry  is, 
how  can  it  best  be  brought  into  English  mowing  ?  If 
the  surface  consists  of  roots,  peat,  and  an  abundance  of 
combustible  matter,,  it  is  best  to  subdue  by  paring  and 
burning.  This  paring  is  done  with  a  bog-hoe,  when  the 
ground  will  not  bear  a  team ;  and  it  often  happens  that, 


220  CORRESPONDENCE. 

when  we  have  turned  over  the  sod  in  August,  it  will 
burn  well  in  two  or  three  weeks.  When  the  sods  will 
not  hum  separately,  we  pile  them  in  heaps,  and  in  dry 
summers  have  no  difficulty  in  burning  the  greater  part 
of  the  matter  turned  up  by  the  hoe.  If  any  sods  are 
left  unburnt,  we  pile  them  in  high  heaps,  to  stand  until 
another  summer. 

We  spread  over  the  ground  evenly  all  the  ashes  we 
have  made,  and  then  sow  on  our  seed.  One  peck  of 
herds-grass  and  one  bushel  of  red-top  are  quite  suffi- 
cient seed  for  an  acre.  If  we  wish  for  clover  to  be 
mixed,  we  sow  this  in  winter  and  let  it  bury  itself,  but 
we  cover  the  other  with  a  hand-rake. 

When  we  can  get  the  ground  prepared,  we  choose  to 
sow  as  early  as  the  first  of  September,  because  we  then 
harvest  a  larger  burden  at  the  first  cutting,  but  Ave  do 
not  fear  the  winter  when  we  sow  as  late  as  the  last  of 
that  month.  The  grass  in  these  grounds  is  hot  often 
winter-killed.  When  we  obtain  a  good  mess  of  ashes 
from  the  sods  we  think  this  the  cheapest  mode  of  pre- 
paring these  lands,  for  the  ashes  make  manure  enough 
for  two  or  three  years. 

Meadows  which  have  a  surface  that  cannot  be  easily 
burned  may  be  prepared  for  grass  by  ploughing,  or  by 
turning  over  the  sods  flat  with  a  hand-hoe.  In  this 
case  it  is  necessary  to  cart  or  to  wheel  on  loam,  gravel, 
or  sand,  and  then  a  top  dressing  of  compost  manure. 

It  often  happens  that  the  border  of  a  meadow  con- 
sists of  a  good  loam  which  is  so  nigh  that  it  may  be 
very  cheaply  hauled  on  to  the  meadow.  Gravel  is 
good  for  this  purpose,  but  pure  sand  is  the  poorest  of 
any  thing.  When  the  surface  of  the  meadow  is  tolera- 
bly smooth  it  need  not  be  covered  more  than  three 
inches  thick  with  gravel.  One  man  in  one  day,  with 
a  small  yoke  of  oxen  and  cart,  will  cover  over  one 
fourth  of  an  acre  sufficiently  deep  for  the  reception  of 
the  compost  manure. 

Common  smooth  meadow-land,   with  a  burden  of 


BOOK-FARMING. 


221 


coarse  grass  upon  it,  will  be  much  more  readily  covered, 
if  we  suffer  the  grass  to  stand  unmowed.  It  will  help 
to  fill  up  the  vacancies  between  the  hassocks  or  hil- 
locks, and  will  all  soon  be  converted  into  manure. 

As  to  expense,  we  have  sometimes,  in  a  good  season, 
pared,  and  burned,  and  seeded  an  acre  for  about  twenty- 
five  dollars  ;  and  we  have  had  burden  enough  at  the 
first  cutting  to  pay  the  whole  cost  ;  that  is,  one  and  a 
half  tons,  at  about  sixteen  dollars.  This  price  we  some- 
times obtain  in  the  field,  but  a  more  common  price 
with  us  is  ten  dollars  the  ton  for  standing  grass.  — Ed. 


BOOK-FARMING. 


When  a  man  expects  good  crops  without  labor,  we 
call  him  a  book-farmer.  When  one  sits  at  his  desk 
and  attempts  to  teach  farmers  what  he  is  ignorant  of 
himself,  we  call  him  a  book-farmer.  When  one  tells 
us  we  must  all  raise  wheat  and  make  flour,  we  think 
he  is  a  book-farmer.  When  one  tells  us  we  can  raise 
roots  for  two  cents  a  bushel,  we  call  him  a  book- 
farmer.  When  one  tells  us  the  manure  we  can  make 
from  pork  is  worth  more  than  the  grain  costs  to  fatten 
it  with,  we  set  him  down  a  book-farmer. 

When  one  says  "  buy  lime,  buy  lime,  to  make  your 
land  rich,"  we  chalk  him  down  a  book-farmer. 

When  we  hear  a  man  say  his  peat-meadow  is  worth 
three  dollars  a  rod  for  fuel,  iDUt  that  it  brings  him  more 
in  grass,  we  mark  him  a  book-farmer. 

It  is  unfortunate  for  the  community  that  so  much 
has  been  written  on  the  subject  of  farming  by  people 
who  practically  knew  but  little  of  the  business.  It  is 
this  which  has  caused  so  strong  a  prejudice  in  the 
minds  of  many  farmers  against  looking  at  any  thing 
that  may  be  written  on  the  subject  of  their  occupation. 

They  well  know  that  farming  cannot  be  taught  "by 


222  LOW    LANDS. 

BOOK,"  and  they  are  provoked  to  see  so  many  wild 
schemes  as  have  been  proposed  to  them  to  lay  out  their 
money^  where  there  was  no  reasonable  prospect  of  a 
profitable  return. 

Locations,  soils,  markets,  prices  of  labor,  are  all  so 
different,  they  require  different  rules  and  modes  of 
management.  What  is  profitable  to  a  farmer  near  a 
great  market,  may  be  quite  unprofitable  to  one  at  a 
distance ;  still  there  are  some  leading  principles  appli- 
cable to  all. 

Farmers  should  endeavor  to  overcome  this  prejudice, 
for  they  necessarily  live  more  remote  from  each  other 
than  do  merchants  or  manufacturers  ;  they  therefore 
have  much  more  use  for  written  communications  to 
make  them  acquainted  with  the  practices  and  the  im- 
provements of  brother  farmers. 

The  mercantile  and  the  manufacturing  community 
have  so  many  papers  at  command,  that  every  new  im- 
provement, invention,  or  important  article  of  informa- 
tion, goes  with  the  speed  of  a  locomotive,  and  the 
whole  population  is  moved  as  with  an  electric  shock. 

At  a  trifling  expense  farmers  may,  in  like  manner, 
avail  themselves  of  useful  hints,  and  of  the  various 
modes  of  farming  which  are  practised  in  the  civilized 
world ;  and  there  can  be  no  more  doubt  of  their  ability 
to  improve  upon  their  present  modes  of  cultivation, 
than  there  is  of  the  ability  of  other  classes. 

He  must  be  a  very  dull  scholar  who  cannot,  in  the 
course  of  a  year,  by  reading  of  the  improved  practices 
of  the  best  practical  farmers  in  the  country,  acquire 
enough  of  practical  hints  to  pay  for  a  weekly  paper. 


LOW  LANDS. 


Now  is  the  time  to  improve  upon  lands  that  lie  too 
low  to  be  tilled  for  grain.     We  know  of  many  farmers 


LOW    LANDS. 


22S 


who  are  determined  to  make  trial  of  our  mode  of  treat- 
ing these  lands.  We  beg  of  all  our  brother  farmers  to 
make  the  trial  of  at  least  one  acre  each.  We  know 
what  will  be  the  result,  for  we  have  been  practising  on 
this  plan  for  years.  We  bring  our  low  lands  directly 
into  grass  from  grass,  without  going  through  with  the 
very  unprofitable  process  of  planting  such  lands  with 
corn  or  potatoes. 

We  have  formerly  said  much  on  this  subject,  but  we 
think  it  must  not  yet  be  dropped  ;  and,  especially,  as 
we  have  very  many  new  patrons  who  wish  to  know 
our  views  in  full  on  a  system  of  seeding  lands  to  grass 
which  never  has  been  extensively  practised  in  any  part 
of  the  world. 

Any  farmer  may  try  a  single  acre  without  fear  of 
ruin,  for  he  may  plough  it  in  a  day,  and  one  more  day 
will  serve  to  carry  on  his  manure  and  seed  it  to  grass. 
If  he  dare  not  venture  so  far  out  of  the  common  course 
of  husbandry,  let  him  try  one  fourth  of  an  acre,  and 
finish  up  the  business  in  half  a  day. 

Every  farmer  of  fifty  acres  has  some  land  too  low  to 
be  planted.  Every  one  has  lands  which  he  cannot 
make  so  productive  as  he  would  wish.  If  we  pursue 
the  system  of  planting  each  field  before  we  lay  it  to 
grass,  the  process  requires  so  much  manure  we  cannot 
do  justice  to  all  our  fields:  some  must  lie  nearly  un- 
productive, merely  for  want  of  due  attention. 

In  general,  the  time  to  plough  is  when  there  is 
something  on  the  ground  that,  may  be  turned  in  green. 
This  is  the  cheapest,  the  easiest,  the  safest  mode  of 
enriching  our  worn-out  fields.  By  adopting  this  plan 
we  can  easily  make  all  our  tillage-lands  fertile.  We 
can  go  through  each  field  with  such  rapidity  that  the 
whole  farm  may  feel  the  benefit  of  our  presence.  By 
ploughing  in  a  green  crop  of  rowen  at  this  time,  but 
very  little  manure  is  required  in  addition  for  an  acre, 
and  we  are  thus  enabled  to  seed  down  four  acres  for 
one  for  the  next  season's  mowing. 


224  LOW    LANDS. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  sod  keeps  the  land  h'ght  much 
longer  than  if  it  had  been  pulverized  by  planting  ;  con- 
sequently the  land  will  not  need  to  be  ploughed  again 
so  soon. 

But  most  of  us  have  lands  so  low  that  we  cannot 
think  of  planting  them.  They  produce  rushes,  skunk- 
cabbage,  buckhorn,  polly-pod,  lamb's  bane,  moss,  or 
low  blueberry  bushes,  that  are  all  worth  rather  more  to 
be  covered  up  by  the   plough  than  to  be  mowed  or  fed. 

Many  such  fields  as  these  may  be  easily  ploughed, 
and  now  is  our  time.  Our  cattle  are  strong,  and  are 
kept  now  at  small  expense,  compared  with  spring 
keeping  on  hay.  We  have  now  more  leisure  for 
ploughing  than  at  any  season  when  we  have  any  thing 
that  is  green  to  be  covered  up. 

Method  of  Seeding  on  the  Furrow.  We  will 
again  remind  our  early  patrons  and  inform  our  more 
recent  friends  of  our  mode  of  seeding  on  the  farrow  at 
this  season  of  the  year.  We  take  a  good  plough  that 
will  lay  the  furrows  flat ;  we  next  roll  them  down 
hard,  then  carry  on  a  dozen  loads  or  more  of  compost, 
or  fine  manure,  and  harrow  thoroughly,  first  length- 
wise of  the  furrow,  then  a  little  anglewise.  W^e  then 
sow  herds-grass  seed  and  red-top,  and  cover  it  up  with 
a  brush-harrow.  It  is  best  to  sow  down  as  soon  as 
possible  after  ploughing,  as  the  seed  is  more  likely  to 
vegetate. 

In  winter  we  sovvt  on  some  clover-seed,  and  that  will 
be  forward  enough  fot  fall  feeding  next  season.  Clover 
will  not  remain  long  in  such  land,  but  we  think  it  best 
to  fill  up  the  ground  with  good  grass,  to  keep  out  the 
poor.  By  the  time  this  tap-rooted  plant  dies,  the  whole 
space  will  be  filled  by  the  spreading  herds-grass  and 
red-top. 

August  26. 


LABORS    OF    SEPTEMBER.  225 


LABORS  OF  SEPTEMBER. 


This  month  should  be  spent  pdncipally  in  making 
improvements  on  the  farm.  No  crops  of  consequence 
are  to  be  harvested,  and  lands  which  would  not  suffer 
us  to  approach  them  in  the  spring,  on  account  of  their 
exuberant  moisture,  may  now  be  ploughed  or  pared, 
and  burned,  and  fitted  for  a  next  year's  harvest  of 
grass. 

Forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  when  some  people  loved 
labor  better  than  at  present,  two  or  three  weeks  were 
often  spent  in  mowing  the  annual  growth  of  bushes  in 
the  cow-pastures,  where  the  plough  would  do  the 
business  much  more  thoroughly. 

No  service  or  drudgery  can  be  better  calculated  to 
make  boys  dislike  farming  than  this  eternal  repetition 
of  clipping  bushes  without  a  prospect  of  reducing  them. 
The  labor  is  about  as  interesting  as  that  of  turning 
a  grindstone  by  hand,  or  churning  cream  in  cold 
weather  in  a  dash-churn. 

Wherever  the  plough  can  be  made  to  go  in  a  bush- 
pasture,  it  should  be  preferred  to  any  instrument  that 
barely  cuts  the  bushes.  These  will  make  good  manure 
when  well  buried,  and  it  is  more  pleasant  labor  to 
plough  than  to  mow  them.  Farmers  often  say  we 
have  more  land  near  home  than  we  can  manure,  and 
it  is  folly  to  plough  up  our  pastures  unless  we  can 
manure  them  ;  we  are  only  making  them  poorer.  This 
is  not  so  where  a  grain  crop  is  not  taken  off.  Every 
ploughing  makes  lands  richer,  provided  there  is  vege- 
table matter  to  be  buried  in  the  furrow. 

If  one  ploughing  will  not  kill  all  the  bushes,  a  second 
ploughing  may  finish  them  ;  and  it  is  better  to  kill  half 
than  to  let  them  all  stand.  Pasture-lands  that  are 
turned  at  this  season  should  be  sowed  directly  with 
grass-seed  :  no  grain  should  be  thrown  on.  If  plaster  of 
Paris  suits  the  soil,  a  couple  of  bushels  spread  on  an 
20 


226  LABORS    OF    SEPTEMBER. 

acre  will  give  the  grass  a  good  start ;  but  on  some  soils 
plaster  seems  to  do  no  good. 

A  man  may  plough  one  or  more  acres  in  a  large 
pasture  without  the  labor  of  fencing  off  as  in  case  of 
planting;  for  his  cattle  may  generally  be  taken  from 
his  summer  pasture  in  this  month,  before  they  can  in- 
jure the  new  grass.  When  lands  are  seeded  down  to 
grass,  they  should  be  harrowed  well  and  laid  as  smooth 
as  may  be,  that  they  may  be  better  fitted  for  another 
ploughing  a  few  years  hence.  If  no  manure  can  be 
spared,  the  land  should  be  turned  occasionally,  and 
more  especially  where  there  are  bushes.  In  most  cases 
we  obtain  better  feed  the  next  summer  than  if  we  had 
not  turned  over  the  soil ;  but  we  should  not  turn  in  the 
cattle  quite  so  early  in  spring. 

If  our  doctrine  is  correct,  that  grass  does  not  exhaust 
lands,  it  must  be  evident  that  by  repeated  ploughings, 
and  turning  under  the  vegetable  growth,  we  are  mak- 
ing our  pastures  richer  and  richer.  But  how  few  will 
plough  without  sowing  grain  !  Many  are  loath  to 
make  the  experiment. 

The  plea  of  the  slothful  is,  "  we  cannot  enrich  our 
farms,  because  we  have  not  manure."  This  plea  will 
not  hold  where  a  man  has  a  team  and  a  plough. 

Turning  Meadow  into  English.  Last  September 
we  carted  as  many  loads  of  loam  and  soil  from  the 
road-side  on  to  a  meadow,  near  by,  as  one  man  could 
do  in  one  day  with  a  yoke  of  oxen.  The  grass  on  the 
meadow  was  coarse,  and  as  we  had  an  abundance  of 
hay,  we  preferred  not  to  mow  this,  but  to  bury  it 
green. 

One  man  with  oxen  would  cover  nearly  one  fourth 
of  an  acre  in  a  day,  as  the  long  grass  helped  to  fill  up 
the  hollows  between  the  hassocks.  After  this  was 
evenly  spread  over  the  grass,  so  as  to  cover  it  complete- 
ly, a  few  loads  of  compost  manure  were  spread  on  the 
top,  and  then  herds-grass  and  red-top  were  sowed  and 
brushed  in.     It  was  near   the    middle   of   September 


GARGET.  227 

when  it  was  sown.  This  summer  the  piece  gave  a 
fine  crop  of  English  hay,  and  the  clover  which  was 
thrown  on  in  the  spring  now  looks  finely  for  fall  feeding. 
This  land  was  thoroughly  drained,  and  the  mud  from 
the  ditches  helped  us  to  form  the  new  sm'face. 

Thus  where  there  is  soil  near  a  meadow  that  is 
made  dry  enough  to  be  carted  on,  one  man,  in  a  week, 
with  a  single  yoke  of  oxen,  will  carry  on  enough  of 
soil  to  convert  a  whole  acre  of  poor  meadow  into 
English  mowing.  Say  the  expense  is  two  dollars  per 
day,  or  twelve  dollars  per  acre,  —  and  such  land  needs 
not  much  manure :  it  will  nearly  maintain  itself  in 
grass,  if  the  rowen  crop  is  turned  under  once  in  a  few 
years.  This  land,  thus  prepared,  is  worth  more  than 
one  hundred  dollars  per  acre  twenty  miles  from  Boston. 

How  much  of  such  land  we  have  within  thirty 
miles  of  Boston  which  now  bears  a  burden  that  will 
hardly  pay  for  fencing  !  It  requires  no  expensive 
process  to  double  the  quantity  of  hay  now  cut  in 
Massachusetts. 


GARGET. 

This  disease  in  cows  is  very  troublesome  at  certain 
seasons,  and  is  more  often  found  to  afflict  the  best 
milkers  than  the  poorest.  Garget  root,  as  it  is  called 
in  Maine,  jalap  more  commonly  in  Massachusetts, 
has  been  the  usual  remedy  for  this  disorder.  It  bears 
a  berry  large  as  a  pea,  and  full  of  purple  juice.  The 
plant  is  quite  common  in  this  vicinity,  but  does  not 
flourish  so  well  farther  north. 

We  have  been  in  the  habit  of  taking  a  piece  of  the 
root  an  inch  long,  and  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  and 
inserting  it  in  a  hole  cut  in  the  dewlap  of  the  afflicted 
cow.  In  cases  of  a  severe  attack,  the  dewlap  will 
swell  sometimes  to  the  size  of  a  small  hog's  bladder. 


228 


THE    HARROW 


When  the  cow  is  but  slightly  attacked,  we  have  cut 
holes  in  potatoes  and  inserted  bits  of  this  root,  and 
then  given  them  to  her  for  a  lunch.  This  is  the  easier 
mode  of  administration,  and  generally  a.nswers  a  good 
purpose. 

A  writer  in  a  late  number  of  the  Maine  Farmer  recom- 
mends saltpetre  for  this  disease.  He  says  he  gave  a 
pretty  strong  dose,  something  like  two  ounces,  and  in 
less  than  twelve  hours  her  milk  was  restored  good  as 
ever.  This  cow  had  been  so  subject  to  the  disease 
through  the  summer  as  to  be  nearly  useless.  He  sug- 
gests the  propriety  of  mixing  a  little  saltpetre  with  the 
salt  given  weekly,  or  oftener,  to  cows,  but  has  some 
doubts  whether  it  may  not  prove  injurious  to  the  blood. 

Now  we  call  on  our  medical  gentlemen,  of  whom 
we  have  a  very  goodly  number  for  patrons  —  thanks 
to  their  liberality  —  to  give  us  an  opinion  whether  salt- 
petre, in  small  quantities,  wi-ll  be  likely  to  prove  inju- 
rious to  neat  stock. 

This  question  is  of  vital  importance  to  all  who  keep 
cows ;  and  who,  in  the  country,  does  not  keep  them  ? 
If  saltpetre  shall  be  found  a  complete  remedy  for  the 
disease,  it  can  be  very  readily  administered  by  any  one. 


THE  HARROW. 


For  old  fields  of  all  kinds  we  prefer  the  square 
harrow.  Many  make  use  of  the  triangular  or  crotch 
harrow  for  all  kinds  of  land.  In  new  ground,  full  of 
stumps,  the  triangular  harrows  may  be  best,  but  in  old 
fields  they  are  very  objectionable.  The  moving 
power  raises  from  the  earth  the  forward  teeth,  and 
leaves  the  centre  nearly  untouched  ;  but  the  centre 
should  ahvays  be  the  most  throughly  harrowed,  be- 
cause the  edge  is  harrowed  twice  by  the  lapping  on  of 
the  instrument* 


COLD    AND    WET    GROUNDS.  229 


GATHERING  POTATOES. 

Young  farmers  often  dig  their  potatoes  too  soon. 
They  should  be  suffered  to  stand  until  fully  ripe,  if  we 
wish  for  the  most  nourishment  they  will  afford.  In 
truth  they  are  not  wholesome  for  man  or  beast  when 
unripe  ;  and,  by  putting  them  early  in  the  cellar,  they 
are  liable  to  heat  and  spoil  in  the  heap. 

They  should  be  but  little  exposed  to  the  air,  and  no 
amount  of  dry  loam  mixed  with  them  will  prove  in- 
jurious when  housed  at  the  proper  season  of  the  year. 

We  have  known  some  very  early  farmers  obliged  to 
overhaul  their  potatoes  and  throw  them  out  of  the 
cellar  to  prevent  their  spoihng.  So  long  as  the  vines 
are  green  the  potatoes  are  growing  ;  and,  though  after 
the  frost  has  taken  their  tops  we  expect  no  great  in- 
crease, we  think  the  potatoes  often  become  more  ripe 
and  mealy  by  lying  in  the  ground  until  the  vines  are 
dead. 


COLD  AND  WET  GROUNDS. 


People  often  ask,  "What  shall  we  do  with  our  cold 
and  wet  grounds  ?  If  we  put  no  manure  in  the  hill  we 
fear  we  shall  get  no  crop."  It  is  believed  that  most 
farmers  have  some  dry  and  warm  land.  Let  the  corn 
be  planted  on  such  land.  We  are  not  so  bound  by  a 
system  of  rotation  of  crops  as  to  be  obliged  to  try  every 
field  with  corn.  Rotation  to  some  extent  is  useful, 
but  we  have  thousands  of  acres,  excellent  for  grass, 
yet  wholly  unsuitable  for  corn.  Let  these  acres  re- 
main in  grass.  If  they  need  ploughing,  sow  them 
again  to  grass  in  September :  they  need  not  be  planted. 

Warm  and  dry  grounds,  if  manured,  and  the  manure 
thoroughly  mixed  with  the  soil,  will  generally  give  us 
good  crops  of  corn  when  they  are  well  attended  to. 
20* 


230  HARVESTING    CORK. 


CORN-FIELDS. 


Nothing  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  looks  richer  than 
a  well-cultivated  field  of  corn  at  this  season  of  the  year. 
Fifty  or  sixty  bushels  of  rich,  heavy  grain  are  often 
taken  from  a  single  acre,  and  the  stover  in  which  it  is 
enveloped,  when  well  preserved,  affords  a  rich  repast  to 
neat  cattle  of  all  descriptions. 

In  passing  through  fields  of  corn  this  season,  we  often 
see  the  blades  standing  so  close  to  each  other  that  they 
bear  no  ears.  The  worms  and  the  birds  did  not  call 
for  their  usual  supply,  or  the  tiller  neglected  his  duty. 
It  is  well  to  plant  a  large  quantity  of  seed  when  its 
cost  is  so  trifling  as  that  of  corn  ;  but  he  who  leaves 
too  many  stalks  in  a  hill  will  be  sorry  for  his  neglect  to 
root  out  a  part  when  it  is  too  late  to  remedy  the  evil. 

When  rows  are  three  and  a  half  feet  apart,  and  hills 
two  feet  distant  in  the  row,  two  stalks  of  our  middle- 
sized  corn  are  sufficient  to  remain  on  the  first  hoeingv 


HARVESTING  CORN. 


As  to  the  best  mode  of  harvesting,  we  have  some 
hesitation.  If  we  had  a  field  of  late  corn,  and  we  were 
in  fear  of  a  frost,  we  should  be  inclined  to  cut  the 
whole  stalk  at  bottom  and  make  shocks  of  the  corn,  to 
Stand  two  or  three  weeks  before  harvesting.  Fifteen 
or  twenty  hills  may  be  put  together  in  one  shock,  and 
one  should  be  left  standing  to  support  the  others  which 
are  to  be  placed  around  it.  One  band,  or  birch  withe, 
will  be  sufficient  for  one  shock  ;  and,  if  well  put  up,  they 
will  stand  two  or  three  weeks  without  racking  over. 
When  we  wish  to  cart  them  home,  we  throw  a  whole 
shock  at  a  time  on  the  cart,  and  keep  the  stalks  straight. 
In  his  way  they  are  more  easily  husked. 


PEAT.  231 

We  are  not  sure  that  we  save  any  labor  in  adopting 
this  mode  of  harvesting,  but  it  is  certain  the  fodder  is 
better  when  secured  in  this  way.  If  the  stalks  are  cut 
above  the  ear,  they  should  always  be  put  in  pikes,  or 
shocks,  as  some  call  them,  and  there  suffered  to  stand 
as  long  as  two  or  three  weeks  :  they  become  sweeter, 
and  are  better  relished  by  cattle.  When  we  house 
them  soon  after  cutting,  they  retain  an  acid  which  is 
not  agreeable  to  cattle,  even  though  we  take  the  trouble 
to  hang  up  the  bundles  on  poles  and  let  the  air  in  the 
barn  draw  through  them  so  much  as  to  prevent  any 
mould  from  gathering.  We  have  had  stalks  that  were 
thus  kept,  and  looked  perfectly  well  and  bright,  but  the 
cattle  would  not  eat  them  so  well  as  they  would  others 
that  had  been  weather-beaten. 

When  we  have  put  stalks  in  the  pike  we  are  apt  to 
suffer  them  to  stand  out  too  long.  Three  weeks  of 
pretty  good  weather  will  fit  them  to  be  packed  close 
on  the  scaffolds.  They  should  be  opened  and  sunned 
on  the  day  of  carting. 


PEAT. 

We  take  much  pleasure  in  copying  into  our  columns 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Phinney  to  Dr.  Charles  Jackson,  on 
the  subject  of  peat. 

E.  Phinney,  Esq.  of  Lexington,  is  one  of  our  most 
scientific  farmers,  and  we  are  proud  to  have  him  en- 
rolled on  the  list  of  Middlesex  husbandmen.  He  is  the 
first  writer  who  ever  dared,  to  our  knowledge,  to  de- 
clare, in  public,  that  we  sometimes  plough  too  often, 
throwing  up  again  to  the  winds  what  ought  to  be  kept 
below  until  entirely  rotted  and  converted  into  a  new 
vegetable  gi'owth. 

From  him  we  have  caught  as  many  useful  ideas  on 
farming  as  from  any  one  individual  who  has  written  so 
little  on  the  subject. 


232  PEAT. 

"  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson  : 

"  Dear  Sir,  — I  herewith  send  you  a  sample  of  my 
peat.  I  am  very  desirous  of  availing  myself  of  the 
benefit  to  be  derived  from  a  chemical  analysis  of  the 
same,  which  you  kindly  offered  to  make.  A  more 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  properties  of 
peat,  which  can  be  obtained  only  by  a  scientific  exam- 
ination of  its  constituent  parts,  would  enable  farmers 
more  justly  to  appreciate  this  valuable  species  of  land. 
It  is  from  a  want  of  this  knowledge  that  our  extensive 
tracts  of  low  meadow  and  swamp-lands  have  hitherto 
been  esteemed  of  little  or  no  value.  Allow  me  to  say, 
sir,  that  I  know  of  no  way  in  which  you  could  render 
a  more  essential  service  to  the  public,  more  especially 
to  farmers,  than  by  enabling  them  to  convert  their  un- 
productive and  unsightly  bogs  and  morasses  into  luxu- 
riant fields,  and  sources  of  wealth.  I  consider  my  peat- 
grounds  by  far  the  most  valuable  part  of  my  farm ; 
more  valuable  than  my  wood-lots  for  fuel,  and  more 
than  double  the  value  of  an  equal  number  of  acres  of 
my  uplands,  for  the  purpose  of  cultivation. 

"  In  addition  to  these,  they  furnish  an  inexhaustible 
supply  of  the  most  essential  ingredient  for  the  manure- 
heap.  A  statement  of  the  uses  to  which  I  have  appro- 
priated peat-lands,  and  my  management  of  them, 
though  very  imperfect,  may  serve  to  give  you  a  partial 
conception  of  their  value  and  uses,  and  at  the  same 
time  enable  you  to  see  how  important  it  is  that  the 
farming  community  should  have  more  information  on 
this  subject. 

"In  the  first  place,  they  are  valuable  for  fuel.  I 
have,  for  twenty  years  past,  resorted  to  my  peat- 
meadows  for  fuel.  These,  with  the  prunings  of  my 
fruit-trees,  and  the  brush  from  my  uncleared  lands, 
have  given  me  my  whole  supply.  The  prunings  and 
brush  are  bound  in  bundles,  and  housed,  and,  with  the 
help  of  a  small  bundle  of  these  fagots  and  peat,  a 
quick  and  durable  fire  is  made.     It  gives  a  summer-like 


PEAT.  233 

atmosphere,  and  lights  a  room  better  than  a  wood  fire. 
The  smoke  from  peat  has  no  irritating  effect  upon  the 
eyes,  and  does  not  in  the  shghtest  degree  obstruct  respi- 
ration, Hke  the  smoke  of  wood  ;  and  it  has  none  of  that 
dryiug,  unpleasant  effect  of  a  coal  fire.  The  ashes  of 
peat  are,  to  be  sure,  more  abundant,  but  not  more 
troublesome,  and  are  less  injurious  to  the  furniture  of 
a  room,  than  the  ashes  of  coal. 

"  The  best  peat  is  found  in  meadows  which  have 
for  many  years  been  destitute  of  trees  and  brush,  and 
well  drained,  and  where  the  surface  has  become  so  dry, 
and  the  accumulation  of  decayed  vegetable  matter  so 
great,  that  but  little  grass  or  herbage  of  any  description 
is  seen  upon  the  surface.  If  the  meadows  are  suffered 
to  remain  in  a  miry  condition,  the  wild  grasses  and 
coarse  herbage  will  continue  to  grow,  and  the  peat  be 
of  a  light  and  chaffy  texture,  fixed  with  undecayed 
fibrous  roots.  By  draining  they  become  hard,  and  the 
peat  becomes  compact  and  solid,  and  the  cutting  out 
and  carrying  off  greatly  facilitated.  A  rod  square,  cut 
two  spittings  deep,  each  spitting  of  the  length  of 
eighteen  inches,  will  give  three  cords  when  dried.  It 
may  be  cut  from  May  to  September.  If  the  weather 
in  autumn  be  very  dry,  the  best  time  for  cutting  will 
be  from  the  middle  of  August  to  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber. If  cut  the  latter  part  of  summer,  or  early  in 
autumn,  it  dries  more  gradually,  and  is  not  so  liable  to 
crack  and  crumble  as  when  cut  early  in  summer. 
The  pieces  are  taken  out  with  an  instrument  made  for 
the  purpose,  from  two  to  three  inches  square  ;  and, 
if  of  good  quality,  will  shrink  about  one  half  in  drying. 
It  is  considered  a  day's  work  for  a  man,  a  boy,  and  a 
horse,  to  cut  out  and  spread  a  rod  square.  The  man 
cuts  it  out  and  lays  it  upon  a  hght  kind  of  drag,  made 
for  the  purpose,  and  it  is  drawn  off  by  the  horse,  and 
spread  by  the  boy  as  thick  as  the  pieces  can  lay  singly. 
After  becoming  dry  enough  to  handle  without  breaking, 
it  is  made  into  piles,  cob-house  fashion,  of  from  twelve 


234  PEAT. 

to  twenty  pieces  in  a  pile.  It  will  then  require  about 
four  weeks  of  dry  weather  to  render  it  fit  to  be  housed 
for  use.  The  top,  or  turf,  is  thrown  back  into  the  pits 
from  which  the  peat  is  taken  ;  and,  if  well  leveled,  and 
the  ground  drained,  it  will,  after  the  first  year,  give  a 
large  crop  of  foul  meadow,  or  other  lowland  grass. 
Peat,  taken  from  land  which  has  been  many  years 
drained,  when  dried,  is  nearly  as  heavy  as  oak  wood, 
and  bears  about  the  same  price  in  the  market. 

''  The  value  of  peat-lands  for  tillage  is  now  pretty 
well  known  and  acknowledged.  Some  years  since,  I 
occasionally  sold  to  my  neighbors  a  few  rods  of  my 
peat-land  yearly,  to  be  cut  out  for  fuel,  at  three  dollars 
per  rod,  being  at  the  rate  of  four  hundred  and  eighty 
dollars  per  acre  ;  but,  finding  this  sum  to  be  less  than  its 
value  for  cultivation,  especially  when  laid  to  grass,  I 
have  declined  making  further  sales  at  that'  price.  T 
have  raised  upon  my  reclaimed  meadows  seventy-five 
bushels  of  corn,  five  hundred  bushels  of  potatoes,  or 
from  four  to  five  tons  of  the  best  hay,  at  a  first  and 
second  cutting,  to  the  acre,  at  a  less  expense  of  labor 
and  manure  than  would  be  required  to  produce  half 
this  crop  upon  uplands.  To  render  these  lands  pro- 
ductive, they  should  be  thoroughly  drained,  by  digging 
a  ditch  around  the  margin  of  the  meadow,  so  as  to  cut 
off  the  springs,  and  receive  the  water  that  is  continual- 
ly flowing  in  from  the  surrounding  uplands.  If  the 
meadow  be  wide,  a  ditch  through  the  centre  may  be 
necessary,  but  this  will  be  of  no  use  without  the  border 
ditches.  This  being  thoroughly  done,  and  the  surplus 
water  all  drawn  off",  the  next  step  is  to  exterminate  the 
wild  grasses  and  herbage  of  every  kind  that  grow  upon 
the  surface.  To  effect  this,  the  method  heretofore 
generally  and  now  by  some  pursued,  is  to  cover  with 
gravel  or  sand,  top  dress  with  manure,  sow  the  grass- 
seed,  and  then  rake  or  bush  it  over.  This,  for  the  first 
year  or  two,  will  give  a  good  crop  of  hay ;  but,  after 
this,  I  have  invariably  found  that  the  more  coarse  and 


PEAT.  235 

hardy  kinds  of  wild  grass  would  work  their  way 
through  the  sand  or  gravel,  and  entirely  supplant  the 
cultivated  grasses  ;  when  the  whole  must  have  another 
covering,  or  be  abandoned  as  worthless.  If  to  be 
planted  with  corn,  or  any  of  the  root  crops,  my  course 
has  been  to  turn  over  the  turf  or  sward  with  a  plough 
having  a  wrought-iron  share  or  coulter,  ground  to  a 
sharp  edge ;  in  the  driest  season,  say  in  the  month  of 
September,  roll  down  as  hard  as  possible  ;  carry  on  in 
the  winter  a  sufficient  top  dressing  of  compost,  twenty 
cart-loads  to  the  acre  ;  and,  in  the  spring,  plant  with  corn 
or  roots,  without  disturbing  tlie  sod.  When  the  corn  or 
roots  are  taken  oif,  the  surface  is  made  smooth  with  the 
cultivator,  or  hoe  and  harrow;  and,  late  in  November, 
or  just  before  the  heavy  frosts  sets  in,  sow  with  herds- 
grass  and  red-top  seed,  half  a  bushel  of  the  former,  and 
one  bushel  of  the  latter  to  the  acre.  The  field  is  then 
rolled,  which  completes  the  process.  If  the  plough 
does  not  turn  the  sods  smooth,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
follow  it  with  a  bog-hoe,  to  level  the  uneven  places. 
By  keeping  the  sod  undisturbed  in  the  cultivation,  a 
more  firm  and  compact  surface  is  formed,  upon  which 
oxen  or  horses  may  work  generally  without  danger 
of  miring.  If  the  land  is  intended  for  grass,  without 
the  intervention  of  a  hoed  crop,  the  tmf  is  turned  over 
with  the  plough,  as  before  stated,  in  August  or  Sep- 
tember, or  as  early  as  the  surface  becomes  dry  enough 
to  admit  the  oxen  or  horses  upon  it ;  then  follow  with 
the  bog-hoe  and  turn  over  such  parts  as  the  plough  has 
left  unturned  ;  make  the  whole  smooth  with  the  hoe, 
and,  late  in  November,  spread  on  a  top  dressing  of  com- 
post, not  less  than  twenty  cart-loads,  made  half  of  loam, 
and  half  of  stable  manure,  to  the  acre  ;  then  soav  the 
grass-seed,  and  bush,  and  roll  down.  If  the  ground 
be  miry,  so  as  to  render  the  use  of  the  plough  impracti- 
cable, the  bog-hoe  must  be  resorted  to,  and  the  whole 
turned  over  by  hand,  and  top-dressed,  and  seeded  to 
grass,  as  above  stated.     The  cost  of  turning  over  with 


286  PLASTER    OF    PARIS. 

the  hoe  will  be  twenty  dollars  per  acre,  at  the  usual 
price  of  labor.  This  mode  of  culture  completely  sub-- 
dues  the  natural  wild  grasses,  and  gives  a  compact  and 
rich  surface  of  vegetable  mould,  which  will  give  an 
abundant  crop  of  the  best  English  hay  for  four  or  five 
years,  without  the  aid  of  more  manure.  If  the  sod  is 
disturbed  and  attempted  to  be  pulverized  in  the  course 
of  the  cultivation,  the  surface,  when  laid  to  grass,  will 
be  loose  and  spongy  ;  an  extra  top  dressing  of  loam  and 
manure  will  be  required,  and,  after  all,  the  surface  will 
not  become  so  compact,  nor  the  produce  by  any  means 
so  great.  Should  meadows  be  found  too  soft  and  miry 
to  admit  of  their  being  ploughed  in  the  summer  or 
autumn,  and  the  expense  of  turning  with  the  hoe 
should  be  thought  too  great,  I  would  advise  ploughing 
in  the  spring,  when  the  frost  is  out  to  the  depth  of 
three  or  four  inches,  carting  on  the  manure,'  and  then 
sowing  or  planting  at  a  convenient  and  proper  season. 
The  art  of  reclaiming  these  low  meadows  consists  in 
taking  off  all  the  surplus  water  by  judicious  draining, 
and  in  thoroughly  exterminating  the  natural  herbage 
and  grasses.  This  being  effected,  we  have  our  rich 
bottoms,  equally  as  productiv^e  as  the  deep  alluvials  of 
the  west,  and  obtained  at  a  cost  and  sacrifice  infinitely 
less." 

Lexington,  January  30,  1839. 


PLASTER  OF  PARIS. 


We  have  often  promised  to  give  to  the  public  our 
own  views  of  the  value  and  of  the  operation  of  plaster 
on  our  New  England  soils,  but  have  never  yet  had 
space  to  devote  to  the  subject. 

Much  has  been  written  upon  its  chemical  qualities, 
as  well  as  upon  the  surprising  effects  of  it  when  applied 
to  certain  soils.     We  propose  to  take  notice,  in  the  first 


PLASTER    OF    PARIS.  237 

place,  of  its  effects,  and  from  these,  our  premises,  we 
may  then  draw  some  general  conckisions. 

We  believe  it  to  be  now  generally  conceded  that 
plaster,  on  certain  soils,  has  no  sensible  effect ;  but  it  is 
not  so  generally  admitted  that  it  is  beneficial  on  any 
soil.  Many  people  who  have  tried  it  on  certain  lands, 
and  found  no  advantage  in  the  use  of  it,  are  ready  at 
once  to  condemn  it  m  toto^  and  to  discredit  all  they 
may  have  heard  in  its  favor.  They  come  to  conclu- 
sions too  hastily.  They  have  not  patience  to  make 
repeated  trials  on  soils  differently  constituted,  and,  be- 
cause they  did  not  find  it  to  operate  like  common 
barn-yard  manure  on  all  kinds  of  soil,  they  hastily 
pronounce  judgment  against  it. 

It  has  been  a  common  remark  that  plaster  did  not 
operate  well  near  the  sea;  but  there  are  exceptions  to 
this  theory,  and  we  much  doubt  whether  the  vicinity 
of  salt  water  checks  its  beneficial  operation.  We  have 
very  generally  found  that  our  plaster  had  but  little 
effect  on  light,  sandy  plains,  on  low  and  wet  grounds, 
or  in  seasons  when  the  clouds  always  furnished  a 
sufficiency  of  moisture. 

But  on  dry  and  heavy  loams,  on  clayey  soils,  and 
on  gravelly  hills  with  a  deep  loam,  we  have  generally 
noticed  the  good  eflects  of  plaster.  Even  on  the  banks 
of  the  Kennebec  river,  where  much  of  the  soil  is 
clayey,  there  are  fields  where  plaster  would  not  pay 
the  expense  of  spreading.  Yet  we  have  seen  fields 
there  brought  directly  from  sterility  into  heavy  clover, 
merely  by  the  application  of  two  bushels  of  plaster 
sown  on  the  acre. 

In'  the  town  of  Framingham  we  have  lands  on 
which  plaster  seems  to  have  no  effect.  These  are  our 
plains,  with  a  soil  light  and  inclining  to  sand.  We  have 
tried  plaster  on  other  lands  in  the  same  town,  where  it 
had  surprising  effects  ;  where  two  bushels  spread  on  an 
acre  has  doubled  the  quantity  of  feed  for  two  succes- 
sive years.  This  land  lies  at  the  southwest  part  of  the 
21 


238  PLASTER    OF    PARIS. 

town,  and  the  soil  is  a  heavy  loam :  some  parts  of  the 
pasture,  which  is  hilly  land,  are  ledgy,  and  the  ledges 
have  formerly  been  covered  with  moss.  Plaster  here 
has  the  effect  of  bringing  up  clover  through  the  moss  ; 
and  the  cattle  are  so  fond  of  this  new  growth,  they 
often  destroy  all  the  moss  in  search  of  it. 

It  seems  philosophical  to  suppose  that  plaster  ope- 
rates to  most  advantage  in  soils  that  are  naturally  de- 
ficient of  the  article.  We  cannot  rank  it  with  the 
manures  :  they  are  beneficial  to  all  soils.  It  probably 
acts  as  a  stimulant  to  other  matter.  It  attracts  mois- 
ture from  the  atmosphere,  and  acts  as  a  solvent  on  the 
surface  of  soils  that  are  liable  to  be  baked  in  the  sun 
and  to  crack  open  ;  hence  it  is  more  serviceable  in  dry 
seasons  than  in  wet  ones.  It  is  better  on  the  surface 
than  underneath. 

There  is  much  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  article 
sold  as  plaster.  We  have  often  thought  that  best 
which  contained  the  most  sulphur.  We  test  it  by 
boiling  it  in  a  kettle ;  and,  when  hot,  it  will  be  so  light 
it  may  be  stirred  as  easily  as  hasty-pudding,  when 
only  half  thickened.  If  it  be  good,  it  then  emits  a 
strong  flavor  of  sulphur. 

It  has  been  objected  that  plaster  tends,  in  the  end, 
to  impoverish  the  soil ;  that  it  sends  out  a  forced 
growth  by  its  stimulating  power,  and  then  leaves  the 
land  poorer  than  before.  The  same  objection  has  been 
made  to  ashes ;  that  they  stimulated,  but  did  not 
enrich. 

We  cannot  agree  to  such  doctrine.  We  might  as 
well  say  that  showers  of  rain  Vv^ere  useless  because 
they  merely  stimulate  other  matter.  Any  thing  which 
vvTill  produce  a  large  vegetable  growth  may  readily  be 
converted  into  manure,  by  means  of  the  plough.  The 
more  we  make  our  fields  produce,  the  more  ability 
we  have  to  go  on  increasing  our  crop  from  year  to 
year. 


GRAPES.  239 


GRAPES. 


Of  all  the  fruits  of  the  field  or  of  the  garden^  grapes 
are  the  most  easily  cultivated.  A  cutting  from  a  vine 
buried  in  moist  ground  vvAill  soon  take  root,  and,  in  a 
year  or  two,  will  produce  fine  fruit. 

Many  foreign  grapes  have  been  introduced  within  a 
few  years,  but  most  of  them  need  a  green-house,  or 
some  kind  of  protection  from  our  cold  winters,  which 
makes  the  cultivation  of  the  fruit  troublesome  and 
difficult. 

When  the  Isabella  grape  was  first  introduced,  it  was 
thought  it  would  flourish  well  in  our  open  air,  and  re- 
quire no  protection.  It  is  now  found  that,  to  insure  its 
bearing,  and  even  its  existence,  it  should  be  buried 
during  winter ;  and,  when  the  utmost  care  has  been 
taken,  our  summers  are  often  too  cold  to  bring  the 
fruit  to  maturity. 

Cream-colored  Grapes.  We  have  a  native  grape- 
vine in  our  garden,  which  we  found  in  the  woods  some 
years  ago,  and  which  bears  a  rich  and  sweet  fruit,  quite 
different  from  the  native  purple  grape  of  the  woods. 
Its  fruit  was  ripe  on  the  first  of  September,  and  it  is 
equal  in  richness  to  the  imported  white  sweet-water 
grape,  which  is  not  usually  brought  to  maturity  in  the 
open  air.  This  grape  has  none  of  that  unpleasant 
sourness  so  common  to  the  purple  grape  when  the  skin 
is  kept  long  in  the  mouth.  Its  taste  much  resembles 
that  of  the  best  white  plums,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  its  juice  would  make  excellent  wine. 

One  bushel  of  good  soil  would  be  sufficient,  near  a 
lady's  window,  for  a  vine  that  would  be  an  ornament 
to  the  house,  and  a  source  of  gratification  to  the  lovers 
of  fine  fruit.  These  vines  may  be  propagated  in  mul- 
titudes in  the  city,  and  they  require  no  care  except  a 
little  clipping  of  the  exuberant  foliage.  But  farmers 
have  no  time.     Men  have  more  fancy  for  grain  than 


240  THE    ENGLISH    ARTICHOKE. 

for  grapes:  and  we  intend  now  to  address  our  female 
patrons  who  have  been  so  liberal  in  our  support. 

Every  lady  whose  name  is  on  our  books  shall  be 
welcome  to  a  handful  of  cuttings  from  this  grape-vine, 
if  she  will  be  at  the  trouble  to  send  for  them  at  our 
office  next  spring  :  and  we  will  warrant  each  cutting  to 
growj  if  she  will  expend  upon  it  five  minutes'  attention. 
We  make  the  same  offer  to  future  female  subscribers. 

They  will  find  this  grape  quite  as  ornamental,  and 
not  half  so  troublesome,  as  the  geranium ;  then  all  its 
fruit  will  be  net  gain. 


THE  ENGLISH  ARTICHOKE. 


We  have  been  requested,  by  a  gentleman  of  Missis- 
sippi, to  direct  the  attention  of  our  farmers  to  the  more 
extensive  cultivation  of  the  English  artichoke,  as  an 
excellent  article  of  food  for  hogs.  It  is  now  cultivated 
by  some  of  our  farmers,  but  upon  too  small  a  scale, 
considering  its  great  value.  We  learn  that  Judge 
Caruthers,  and  Mr.  F.  H.  Gordon,  of  Smith  county, 
have  about  twelve  acres  each  now  growing,  which 
will  afford  food  for  near  a  hundred  hogs  from  the  1st  of 
November  till  planting  time. 

The  artichoke  requires  but  little  labor  in  tilling,  and 
is  very  productive.  The  roots  will  remain  in  the 
ground  safe  during  the  whole  of  the  winter ;  the  stalk 
and  the  foliage  furnishing  an  excellent  protection  from 
the  frosts,  and  enriching  the  soil  greatly.  The  hogs 
can  be  let  on  them  the  1st  of  November,  and  remain  till 
spring,  when  they  will  be  in  prime  order.  A  portion 
of  the  ground  cultivated  should  be  set  apart  for  seed  ; 
the  seed  to  remain  in  the  earth  where  it  grows  till 
spring,  then  taken  and  planted  about  the  time  sweet 
potatoes  are  planted,  with  about  the  same  amount  of 


SUGAR-BEET.  241 

seed  per  acre.  Thus  four  bushels  of  seed  will  plant  an 
acre  of  ground,  and  require  one  ploughing  and  hoeing, 
and  keep  thirty  or  more  hogs  from  the  1st  of  November 
till  spring.  If  our  farmers  do  not  pay  more  attention 
to  this,  they  certainly  are  bhnd  to  their  interest.  Seed, 
we  presume,  can  be  had  quite  plenty  next  spring.  — 
Southern  Cultivator. 


[From  the  Genesee  Farmer.] 

SUGAR-BEET. 


The  valuable  qualities  of  this  root  for  feeding 
animals  is  beginning  to  be  understood  ;  and  we  may 
reasonably  expect  that  its  culture  will  hereafter  be  very 
much  increased.  The  common  beet  and  the  mangel 
wurtzel  have  both  been  proved  valuable  roots,  but  the 
sugar-beet  is  much  superior  to  either  of  the  former,  as 
was  indeed  to  have  been  expected  from  the  greater 
quantity  of  saccharine  matter  it  contains.  It  is  culti- 
vated with  as  much  ease  and  certainty  as  the  common 
beet,  and,  though  usually  more  difficulty  has  been 
found  in  preserving  the  beet  or  the  carrot  than  the 
ruta  baga,  there  is  really  no  more  danger  of  failure 
where  cellars  of  proper  temperature  are  to  be  had.  For 
making  fine  mutton,  the  sugar-beet  is  said  to  be  un- 
rivaled. We  find  a  letter  on  this  subject  in  the 
''  Whip,"  from  which  we  make  the  following  extract, 
which  we  are  confident  is  worthy  the  attention  of  all 
those  who  wish  to  produce  from  their  flocks  meat  of  the 
first  quality.  The  writer  was  an  extensive  mutton 
grower  for  the  Philadelphia  market,  and  his  mutton, 
before  he  commenced  using  the  sugar-beet,  had  attained 
a  high  character  ;  at  last  he  commenced  the  use  of  this 
root,  and  he  says  : 

''  What  surprised  him  most   was  the  rapid   manner 
21* 


242  DYSPEPSY    IN    HOGS. 

in  which  they  took  on  fat,  when  fed  on  the  sugar-beet ; 
and,  when  carried  to  market,  the  saddles  excited  par- 
ticular attention  from  their  very  superior  appearance. 
But  it  was  not  in  appearance  only ;  the  meat  was  of  a 
much  better  quality,  more  juicy,  and  exceedingly  ten- 
der. The  inquiry  was,  'Why,  sir,  on  what  do  you 
fatten  your  sheep  ? '  and  when  I  replied,  on  the  sugar- 
beet,  hay,  and  a  small  quantity  of  corn,  it  would 
generally  call  forth  acclamations  of  surprise.  My  first 
trial  was  four  years  ago ;  and,  since  that  time,  I  have 
been  a  constant  grower  of  the  beet.  The  meat  I  bring 
to  market  is  always  in  demand,  and  brings  several  cents 
more  per  pound  than  that  fattened  in  the  old  way :  and 
yet,  strange  to  say,  some  of  my  neighbors,  though  1 
have  urged  them,  will  not  plant  the  beet  for  their 
stock.  I  have  been  benefited  to  the  extent  of  several 
hundred  dollars  by  the  introduction  of  this  r.oot :  the 
effects  are  visible  ;  my  neighbors  see  it,  and  know  it, 
and  yet  they  stand  looking  on,  halting  between  two 
opinions.  But  light  is  breaking  in  upon  us,  and  of  one 
thing  you  may  be  assured  ;  that  is,  that  the  time  is  not 
far  distant  when  every  extensive  stock-feeder  will  also 
be  an  extensive  root-groAver." 

The  opinion  here  last  advanced  is  doubtless  a  cor- 
rect one  ;  and  we  also  think  that,  whether  feeders  or 
not,  every  cattle-grower  will,  if  he  consults  his  own 
interest,  be  a  root-grower.  We  are  convinced,  that  in 
this  country,  as  elsewhere,  the  root  culture  lies  at  the 
b^sis  of  all  profitable  cattle  husbandry. 


DYSPEPSY  IN  HOGS. 


We  often  find  hogs,  at  this  season  of  plenty,  losing 
their  appetites.  This  complaint  would  not  be  so  dis- 
agreeable if  it  attacked  them  when  we  had  but  little 
food  for  them  ;  but  now,  when  full  harvests  are  coming 


CORRESPONDENCE.  243 

in,  and  some  of  a  perishable  quality,  to  have  hogs  that 
have  no  stomachs  is  worse  than  to  have  no  hogs. 

Rotten  wood  has  been  recommended  as  a  corrector 
of  the  acid  in  a  swine's  stomach,  but  charcoal  is  one  of 
the  best  things  that  we  have  tried.  We  cannot  tell 
the  why,  but  hogs  are  fond  of  it,  and  will  eat  a  portion 
of  it  daily  when  they  can  get  it.  It  is  insisted  by 
some  that  there  is  much  nourishment  in  charcoal,  and 
that  hogs  have  been  known  to  live  on  it  a  great  length 
of  time.  In  a  voyage  from  Europe  a  lost  pig  was 
found  in  a  charcoal  pit,  after  some  weeks,  plump  and 
hearty. 

Captain  Riley,  many  years  ago,  in  his  travels  in 
Africa,  surprised  us  in  his  accounts  of  feecling  camels, 
on  long  journeys  through  the  desert,  with  nothing  of 
consequence  but  charcoal.  Now  we  do  not  vouch  for 
the  truth  of  these  stories,  but  we  know  that  some  hogs 
love  charcoal,  and  will  fatten  better  for  having  that  as 
one  item  of  food  or  condiment.  It  may  be  pure  fancy 
in  the  hog,  but  not  a  wilder  one  than  some  of  our  own 
race  manifest  for  the  African  complexion. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Mr.  Buckminster,  —  I  have  a  hundred  loads  of 
compost  manure  which  I  intend  to  put  on  my  grass- 
land, and  I  should  like  to  have  your  opinion  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  using  it.  I  agree  with  you  that  it  is 
more  profitable,  in  this  region,  to  raise  grass  and  hay 
than  to  raise  grain  for  sale  ;  but  I  think  we  sometimes 
lose  by  not  putting  on  our  manure  at  the  right  time, 
and  in  the  right  mode. 

Some  people  spread  manure  on  their  grass-lands  im- 
mediately after  haying.  Some  choose  this  month, 
October,   and    some    prefer   laying    it   on   just    before 


244  CORRESPONDENCE. 

winter.     My  land  is  somewhat  low  and  rocky,  and 
cannot  be  easily  ploughed.  Yours,  ^ 

Leominster^  Oct.  2,  1839. 

We  lose  some  of  the  virtue  of  manures,  when  we 
spread  them  on  grass-lands,  in  consequence  of  evapora- 
tion ;  and  the  longer  the  land  has  lain  in  grass,  the 
more  we  lose,  because  the  sward  has  become  more 
compact,  and  will  not  readily  suffer  the  compost  to  be- 
come incorporated  with  it.  We  have  sometimes  put 
compost  on  to  grass-lands  that  were  rather  dry,  and 
that  had  not  been  ploughed  for  many  years,  and  we 
could  see  but  little  benefit  arising  from  the  application. 
Some  have  'lately  recommended  spreading  it  on  im- 
mediately after  mowing.  We  see  no  good  reason  for 
this.  It  is  usually  as  dry  weather  at  that  season  as  at 
any  in  the  year,  and  Ave  cannot  fail  to  lose  much  by 
evaporation. 

Some  prefer  the  fore  part  of  May  for  this  operation, 
and  calculate  on  the  rapid  growth  of  the  grass  to  cover 
up  the  manure.  We  have  more  than  one  objection  to 
this  practice.  We  have  no  leisure  at  this  time  ;  we 
have  no  manure  ready  unless  it  was  prepared  the  year 
before,  and  if  prepared,  it  should  have  been  put  on 
then ;  we  injure  the  land  by  going  on  it  when  it  is 
soft ;  and,  when  we  spread  manure  on  at  this  season,  it 
is  much  in  the  way  of  the  scythe  ;  and  the  rake  will 
gather  up  a  part  of  it  with  the  hay  in  July. 

We  think  the  best  time  is  in  November,  as  soon  as 
our  harvesting  is  over.  The  compost  will  then  dry  up 
but  little  before  its  virtues  are  mingled  with  the  soil. 
If  the  land  has  long  lain  in  grass,  it  should  be  well 
harrowed,  after  applying  the  compost.  If  the  harrow 
moves  slowly  over  the  groinid  it  will  tear  up  but  few 
of  the  roots,  and  it  makes  more  room  for  those  that  re- 
main :  it  opens  the  ground  so  as  to  admit  the  compost, 
and,  before  the  long  days  of  May  arrive,  much  of  the 
goodness  of  the  manure  is  sunk  into  the  soil. 


PIG-PEN    IN    AUGUST.  245 

We  do  not  advocate  the  spreading  of  much  compost 
on  grass-lands  when  we  can  plough  them,  for  we  can- 
not avoid  a  loss  from  evaporation  at  any  season  of  the 
year ;  but  there  are  some  lands  too  low  for  planting, 
and  too  rough  to  be  ploughed.  They  are  good  for 
nothing  but  grass,  and  they  often  yield  a  good  harvest 
between  the  rocks  and  the  stumps.  Composts  for  such 
lands  should  have  a  large  proportion  of  loam  or  fine 
gravel  mixed  with  them,  and  then  the  loss  by  surface 
manuring  will  be  less. 

We  undoubtedly  make  more  profit  of  our  manures 
by  incorporating  them  with  a  ploughed  soil ;  and  if  we 
have  ingenuity  enough  to  turn  under  a  green  crop  of 
rowen,  in  aid  of  the  surface  application,  to  be  rotting 
as  it  is  wanted,  we  may  enrich  our  lands  with  great 
rapidity,  and  constantly  keep  them  rich.  But  this 
should  always  be  done  about  the  first  of  autumn,  as 
we  have  often  stated.  —  Ed. 


PIG-PEN  IN  AUGUST. 


At  this  season  of  the  year  the  sty  should  be  par- 
ticularly attended  to.  The  health  and  comfort  of  all 
human  beings  who  may  pass  by  one  are  concerned  in 
the  proper  management  of  the  contents. 

Manure  is  of  immense  importance  to  the  farmer,  and 
now  is  the  best  time  for  increasing  it.  Hogs  in  the 
fore  part  of  the  season  make  but  little  manure,  for  they 
are  not  so  fully  fed  ;  but  we  should  begin  to  feed  them 
better  before  this  month  is  past,  that  they  may  be  fit 
for  the  butcher  before  the  coldest  weather  comes  on. 

At  this  season,  loam  from  the  road-side  may  often  be 
procured  where  there  is  a  rank  vegetable  growth 
which  may  be  taken  up  with  it.  All  this  should  be 
thrown  into  the  pen,  and  the  pigs  will  look  as  much 
neater  for  this  supply  as  will  some  floors  with  a  quan- 
tity of  sand  spread  over  them. 


246 


CANKER-WORM. 


CANKER-WORM. 


We  think  we  cannot  render  a  greater  service  to  the 
community,  at  the  present  time,  than  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  cultivators  to  that  destructive  pest  which  so 
long  has  foiled  all  attempts  to  destroy  it. 

It  is  well  known  that  some  of  these  worms  ascend 
the  tree  in  autumn.  Those,  therefore,  who  intend  to 
take  measures  of  prevention  should  commence  opera- 
tions before  the  enemy  has  effected  a  lodgement  from 
which  he  cannot  be  driven. 

We  fondly  hope  some  cheaper,  and  more  effectual 
method  may  yet  be  discovered  to  save  our  ornamental 
as  well  as  our  fruit-trees.  Last  summer  the  devouring 
herd  attacked  the  English  cherry-tree  and  the  rose- 
bush for  lack  of  their  favorite  food,  and  it  is  vincertain 
where  they  will  stop,  if  no  attempts  are  made  to  arrest 
their  progress. 

We  take  from  the  New  Haven  Herald  a  well- written 
article  on  this  subject,  sent  to  the  editor  from  an 
unknown  hand  in  Philadelphia.  We  know  not,  at 
present,  any  cheaper  mode  of  defence  than  the  one  here 
recommended. 

We  would  invite  the  attention  of  our  citizens  to  the 
following  article  on  the  canker-worm.  The  renewed 
foilage  with  which  our  shade-trees  are  now  covered 
has  in  some  degree  removed  the  apprehension  enter- 
tained a  few  months  since,  that  we  were  in  danger  of 
losing  one  of  the  chief  ornaments  of  our  city.  Our 
citizens  ought  to  be  apprised,  however,  that  the  effort 
required  to  put  forth  two  sets  of  foilage  annually,  can- 
not be  sustained,  ordinarily,  longer  than  two  or  three 
successive  years.  For  one  year,  or  two,  this  may 
occur  v/ithout  serious  detriment ;  but  the  third  year 
commonly  proves  fatal  to  the  tree.  Many  of  our  most 
valuable  ornamental  trees  have  now  been  completely 
denuded  two  years  in  succession,  and,  unless  measures 


CANKER-WORM.  247 

are  immediately  taken  to  secure  them  from  the  ascent 
of  insects  this  season,  many  of  them  will  probably  be 
lost  next  summer.  The  insects  will  now  soon  begin 
to  come  out  of  the  ground,  so  that  what  is  to  be  done 
ought  to  be  done  immediately.  We  return  our  thanks 
to  the  anonymous  author  of  this  communication,  which 
comes  to  us  under  the  postmark  of  Philadelphia,  and 
will  forward  copies  of  the  paper  as  he  has  desired. 

Entomology  of  the  Canker-worm,  {Phalmna  Ver- 
nata  Geo77iatia,  Peck,)  with  general  Remarks 
upon  the  various  Remedies  or  Preventives. 
From  numerous  remarks  that  I  have  heard  made  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  I  was  led  to  believe  that 
the  character  and  habits  of  the  canker-worm  were  very 
imperfectly  understood.  And  as  its  ravages  appear 
likely  to  destroy  a  considerable  portion  of  the  fruit  and 
ornamental  trees,  I  was  induced  to  study  its  entomolo- 
gy ;  and,  believing  it  might  be  useful  to  those  interested 
in  its  destruction,  I  concluded  to  offer  the  result  of  my 
labors  to  the  public.  And  I  would  here  suggest  to  the 
editors  of  newspapers,  who  are  fond  of  fruit,  and  like 
to  see  flourishing  trees,  to  insert  the  following  account 
for  the  benefit  of  their  readers. 

The  canker-worms  begin  to  hatch  in  the  spring, 
about  the  time  the  red  currant  is  in  blossom,  and  the 
apple-tree  puts  forth  its  tender  leaves,  which,  in  Boston, 
is  about  the  last  of  April  or  the  first  of  May.  When 
first  hatched,  they  are  about  one  tenth  of  an  inch  long, 
and  as  large  as  a  fine  horse-hair.  Having  made  their 
escape  from  the  eggs,  they  move  about  with  great 
activity  in  search  of  food  ;  and,  having  arrived  at  the 
extremities  of  the  branches,  they  begin  to  feed  upon 
the  pulpy  part  of  the  leaves.  And  if  a  leaf  is  taken  and 
held  against  the  light,  it  appears  perforated  with  nu- 
merous small  apertures,  like  ])in-holes.  They  acquire 
their  full  growth  in  about  four  weeks.  During  this 
period  they  cast  several   skins,   each  succeeding  skin 


248  CANKER-WORM. 

being  larger  than  the  previous  one.  The  number  of 
these,  and  the  time  intervening,  is  not  ascertained. 
As  they  pass  through  these  stages  they  become  more 
and  more  voracious,  and  in  the  last  stage  are  more 
destructive  than  in  the  whole  of  their  previous  exist- 
ence, and  make  no  hesitation  in  destroying  the  entire 
foliage,  but  eat  the  green  fruit. 

These  worms  spin  a  continuous  thread  as  they  move 
about,  and  leave  it  attached  to  their  path  ;  hence,  if  a 
branch  of  the  tree  is  struck  so  as  to  give  it  a  sudden 
shock,  the  worms  may  be  seen  suspended  beneath  by 
this  silken  cord  ;  and  when  the  shock  has  ceased,  they 
ascend  to  the  place  from  whence  they  fell.  Imme- 
diately beneath  the  mouth,  there  is  a  conical  papilla, 
from  whence  the  fibre  that  suspends  them  is  emitted. 
Their  ascent,  when  thrown  from  the  tree,  is  slow,  and 
is  performed  by  bending  the  head  and  anterior  part  of 
the  body  back,  until  the  feet  in  the  third  segment  can 
grasp  the  thread  with  their  jaws,  thus  continuing  to 
fold  it  up  until  they  reach  the  branch  of  the  tree. 
They  pause  at  intervals,  if  the  ascent  is  long.  If  by 
chance  the  thread  should  get  broken,  they  crawl  to  the 
trunk  of  the  tree  and  ascend. 

The  larva,  or  caterpillar,  is,  when  full  grown,  about 
one  tenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter ;  the  head  pale, 
marked  on  each  side  with  two  transverse,  blackish 
stripes  ;  the  back  ash-colored,  marked  lengthwise  with 
small,  interrupted,  dusky  lines  ;  the  side  blackish,  with 
a  pale  line  along  the  length  of  the  body.  There  are 
two  white  spots  upon  the  last  segment  of  the  body. 
The  abdomen,  or  under  side,  is  ash-colored.  In 
moving  about,  they  draw  up  the  hinder  part  to  the 
breast,  bending  the  body  into  the  form  of  the  letter  n; 
then  extending  the  body  to  take  a  new  grasp  with  the 
anterior  feet,  thus  appearing  to  measure  the  space  over 
which  they  pass.  From  this  circumstance  they  are 
called  geomatia,  and  in  English,  lopers,  span-worms, 
inch-worms,  &c. 


CANKER-WORM.  249 

In  about  four  weeks  after  they  are  hatched,  they 
cease  eating,  and  descend  to  the  earth  and  enter  it, 
from  four  to  eight  inches,  according  to  the  quahty  and 
condition  of  the  soil.  For  the  first  few  days  they  con- 
tinue shortening  their  body,  and  drawing  in  their  feet. 
When  they  have  contracted  themselves  sufficiently, 
they  disengage  their  skin  and  slip  it  off.  and  become 
a  chrysalis,  which  is  about  half  an  inch  long,  and  one 
seventh  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 

It  appears  that  the  insect  is  soon  perfect,  as  some  of 
them  in  New  England  rise  from  the  earth  as  early  as 
the  last  of  September  ;  and  they  rise,  more  or  less,  until 
the  first  of  May  following,  whenever  the  weather  suits 
them,  and  the  ground  is  thawed  to  the  depth  of  their 
abode. 

When  they  rise  from  the  ground  they  appear  in 
forms  entirely  different :  the  antennae  or  horns  of  the 
perfect  insect  are  setaceous.  The  body  of  the  male  is 
of  an  ashen  amber  color,  nearly  half  an  inch  in  length; 
extent  of  its  upper  wings,  one  inch  and  two  tenths  ;  the 
wings  are  ash-colored,  with  three  obscure  blackish 
stripes,  and  a  small  dash  of  the  same  color  at  the  tips. 
The  under  wings  are  of  a  uniform  color,  and  rather 
lighter  than  the  ground  of  the  upper  ones.  The  body 
of  the  female  is  about  four  tenths  of  an  inch  in  length, 
ash-colored,  and  marked  on  the  back  v/ith  a  brown  list, 
extending  from  the  thorax  to  the  tail.  She  is  destitute 
of  wings,  has  six  long  dusky  legs  with  white  joints. 
Both  the  male  and  female  remain  quiet  during  the  day, 
and  adhere  close  to  the  bark  of  the  tree,  and  are  so  near 
the  same  color  they  are  not  seen  without  close  inspec- 
tion. In  a  short  time  after  sunset  they  begin  to  move. 
The  males  may  be  seen  flying  about.  The  females, 
being  destitute  of  wings,  are  under  the  necessity  of 
ascending  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  They  may  some- 
times be  found  together,  subcupola.  After  this  office 
is  performed  the  males  die,  and  in  a  few  days  the 
females  deposit  their  eggs,  about  one  hundred  in  num- 
22 


250  CANKER-WORM. 

ber.  which  are  deposited  on  the  branches  of  the  tree 
and  generally  near  the  extremities.  The  egg  is  of  an 
elliptic  form,  about  one  thirty-sixth  of  an  inch  in 
length,  of  a  pearl  color,  with  a  yellowish  cast.  As  the 
included  animal  advances,  the  eggs  assume  a  brownish 
hue,  and  finally  become  lead  color.  The  eggs  adhere 
firmly  to  whatever  they  are  laid  upon,  and  appear 
something  like  the  top  of  a  thimble,  except  the  inden- 
tations are  much  finer,  and,  when  laid  in  the  fall,  are 
not  injured  by  freezing,  but  hatch  about  the  time 
before  mentioned.  During  the  last  stage  of  their  exist- 
ence they  do  not  eat  any  thing.  The  female,  after 
laying  her  eggs,  having  accomplished  the  object  of  her 
existence,  dies.  Cold  weather  does  not  have  any  effect 
upon  the  chrysahs  moths  or  eggs,  further  than  to  be- 
numb the  millers  and  grubs,  (grubs  is  the  name  usually 
applied  to  the  female,)  until  it  becomes  warm  again,  for, 
if  the  insects  in  this  state,  when  it  is  extremely  cold, 
are  carried  into  a  warm  room,  they  soon  become  active. 
A  piece  of  ice  containing  a  number  of  grubs  was  carried 
into  a  warm  room.  As  soon  as  the  ice  was  thawed  so 
as  to  set  them  at  liberty,  they  began  to  move  about  the 
room,  and  were  none  the  less  vigorous  for  having  slept 
in  a  bed  of  ice. 

They  have  been  known  to  rise  from  the  earth  when 
the  water  was  standing  over  them  and  come  up 
through  the  water.  When  snow  was  upon  the  ground 
immediately  around  the  tree,  they  have  been  known  to 
rise  from  that  part  of  the  ground  where  there  was  no 
snow  and  cross  over  the  snow  to  ascend  the  trees. 
The  greatest  natural  and  most  destructive  enemy  of 
this  insect  is  the  Amphelis  Garrulus  of  Linnaeus,  called, 
by  Mr.  Calesby,  the  chatterer  of  Carolina,  and,  in  Dr. 
Belnap's  History  of  New  Hampshire,  cherry  bird. 
This  bird  destroys  great  numbers  of  them  while  in  the 
larva  state.  Another  check  is  a  disease  which  may  be 
called  deliquium  and  is  probably  occasioned  by  a  fer- 
mentation of  their  food.     In  this  disease  the  whole  in- 


CANKER-WORM. 


251 


ternal  structure  is  dissolved  into  a  liquid,  and  nothing 
is  entire  but  the  exterior  cuticle,  which  breaks  on  being 
touched. 

The  canker-worm  is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  among 
the  judgments  which  were  to  be  sent  upon  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  is  said  to  have  been  observed  first  in  the 
Southern  States,  where  it  is  probably  a  native.  It  is 
certain  that  it  must  have  spread  by  some  means  inde- 
pendent of  itself,  as  the  female,  being  destitute  of 
wings,  is  forbidden  to  range.  It  may  have  been 
brought  to  New  England  by  bringing  trees  from  the 
Southern  States  upon  which  the  eggs  were  deposited, 
or  brought,  in  the  larva  state,  into  all  populous  parts  of 
the  United  States,  by  falling  from  trees  upon  carriages 
and  travellers  passing  under  them.  This  conjecture  is 
rendered  probable,  by  its  being  in  all  places  which 
have  intercourse  with  such  parts  as  are  infested  with  it, 
and  by  its  being  unknown  to  new  settlements. 

There  is  a  tradition  among  some  of  the  oldest  in- 
habitants of  New  England,  that  the  forest-trees  were 
destroyed  very  generally  by  this  worm  at  one  time  ; 
the  precise  period  when  this  occurred  I  have  not  been 
able  to  ascertain.  The  night  of  the  17th  of  May,  1794, 
was  so  cold  as  to  produce  ice  one  third  of  an  inch 
thick  ;  at  that  time  a  great  part  of  the  canker-worms 
were  hatched ;  to  these  the  frost  was  so  fatal  that  very 
few  were  seen.  A  person  who  paid  very  diUgent  atten- 
tion saw  but  one  male  the  next  year.  I  am  firm  in 
the  belief  that  frost  would  not  kill  them  at  any  time 
except  when  in  the  larva  or  caterpillar  state. 

Having  given  the  best  description  of  the  canker- 
worm  that  the  above  limits  would  allow,  I  will  now 
proceed  to  describe  some  of  the  remedies  or  pre- 
ventives. It  will  appear,  by  reflecting  upon  the  pecu- 
liar construction  and  habits,  that  the  females,  being 
destitute  of  wings,  and  under  the  necessity  of  ascend- 
ing the  trunks  of  the  trees,  any  apparatus  that  would 
prevent  them  from  ascending,  in  case  they  laid  their 


252 


CANKER-WORM. 


eggs  below,  would  prevent  the  young  worms  from  as- 
cending. It  is  also  obvious  that  this  apparatus  must  be 
of  a  durable  character,  so  as  to  be  a  preventive  seven 
months  in  a  year,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing 
description,  that  the  grubs  begin  to  ascend  in  Septem- 
ber, and  continue  until  the  May  following.  The 
remedy  that  I  shall  first  notice  is  tarring  the  trunks  of 
the  trees.  This  undoubtedly  would  be  effectual,  if 
the  tree  could  be  always  kept  in  a  proper  state  ;  but 
this  is  extremely  difficult,  if  it  is  possible  :  a  large 
portion  of  the  time  the  tar  would  want  renewing 
every  day,  if  not  twice  a  day.  Sometimes  oil  or  water 
is  mixed  with  the  tar,  that  it  may  remain  soft  longer. 
One  gentleman  of  ample  experience  informed  me  that 
he  lost  a  crop  of  apples  by  mixing  oil  with  the  tar.  It 
appeared  to  render  it  so  smooth  that  it  did  not  adhere 
to  the  feet  of  the  insects.  When  tar  is  used, 'and  the 
insects  are  numerous,  the  dead  bodies  of  those  that  are 
caught  pave  a  path  for  their  successors  to  pass ;  and  if 
a  tree  is  tarred,  and  it  rains  upon  it  a  few  minutes,  the 
water  will  glaze  the  tar,  so  that  the  insects  pass  over 
with  impunity.  And  they  are  more  likely  to  ascend 
when  it  rains  than  at  other  times,  as  the  water  softens, 
the  ground  and  facilitates  their  escape.  If  but  a  few 
of  the  grubs  ascend  the  tree,  the  worms  from  their 
eggs  would  be  liable  to  destroy  the  trees.  If  tar  is 
used,  it  is  very  injurious  to  the  trees,  if  applied  to  the. 
bark,  as  it  destroys  the  outside  bark.  Those  who  use 
tar  a.nd  do  not  wish  to  injure  theix  trees,  put  a  bandage 
of  paper  or  canvass  around  the  tree,  and  apply  the  tar 
upon  that.  Some  are  of  the  opinion  that  if  the  tar  was 
applied  directly  upon  the  bark,  that  it  would,  in  time, 
kill  the  tree.  Very  few  persons  who  use  tar  have  been 
able  to  save  their  fruit  for  the  first  year ;  but  they 
generally  calculate,  if  they  apply  it  closely,  to  de- 
stroy most  of  the  insects  in  two  or  three  years.  Heap- 
ing a  little  sand  around  the  trunks  of  the  trees,  so  that 
the  insects,  in  crawling,  loosen  the  sand  with  their  feet^ 


CANKER-WORM.  253 

and  it  rolls  down,  carrying  them  down  with  it,  is  prac- 
tised. When  the  sand  is  moistened  with  rain  or  dew,  it 
will  not  roll  down  ;  hence  this  remedy  is  almost  or 
quite  useless.  If  the  sand  keeps  them  down,  they 
might  lay  their  eggs  below,  and  the  young  worms 
would  ascend  over  the  sand,  wet  or  dry. 

Heaping  sheaves  of  flax  around  the  tree,  which  is 
sometimes  done,  is  liable  to  the  same  objections  as 
sand ;  and  one  other  is,  that  there  is  so  little  raised  that 
it  would  be  hardly  possible  to  procure  sheaves. 

Putting  circular  tin  troughs  around  the  trees,  and 
filling  them  with  a  decoction  of  tobacco,  was  tried 
by  George  Irish,  of  Middletown,  R.  I.  and  found  to 
be  very  expensive,  as  the  liquor  evaporated,  and  re- 
quired to  be  filled  very  often ;  and,  when  it  rained,  the 
water  collected  in  them,  and,  freezing,  burst  them, 
leaving  them  very  leaky ;  and,  as  the  trees  grew,  they 
burst  them,  and  rendered  them  quite  useless,  and  they 
were  abandoned  in  one  or  two  years. 

Putting  a  square  tin  trough  around  the  trees,  with  a 
roof  over  it,  the  trough  to  have  a  little  cheap  oil  in 
it,  was  found  to  answer  better  than  any  of  the  fore- 
going remedies  ;  but  it  is  very  expensive,  and  requires 
much  care,  as  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  platform  of 
boards  to  support  the  trough,  and  prevent  the  insects 
from  ascending  between  the  trough  and  the  tree.  As 
the  tree  grows,  it  separates  the  platform,  and  the  trough 
is  required  to  be  made  larger.  In  making  the.  trough 
larger,  it  is  necessary  to  unsolder,  or  cut  it  open,  and 
put  four  pieces  into  the  trough  and  four  into  the  roof  : 
and  the  tin,  by  being  continually  exposed  to  the 
weather,  soon  rusts  through  and  becomes  worthless. 

I  have  noticed  in  some  parts  of  the  country  a  piece 
of  tin  put  around  the  trees,  in  the  form  of  an  inverted 
tunnel.  This  apparatus  must  have  been  contrived  by 
some  person  who  was  ignorant  of  the  entomology  of 
the  canker-worm,  as  it  has  been  ascertained  by  experi- 
ment that  the  grub,  when  put  in  a  glass  tumbler,  will 
22* 


254  CANKER-WORM. 

ascend  the  side,  and,  during  her  ascent,  if  the  tumbler 
is  turned  down  and  rolled  over,  she  will  adhere  to  the 
glass,  and  walk  about  upon  any  part  of  it  without  any- 
apparent  regard  to  the  rolling  of  the  glass,  and  appears 
to  walk  as  well  upon  the  under  side  of  the  glass  as 
upon  the  top.  Hence  all  who  have  used  these  inverted 
tunnels  have  found  them  useless,  or  will,  if  they  con- 
tinue to  use  them. 

A  circular  leaden  trough  and  roof  was  invented  by 
Jonathan  Dennis,  Jr.  of  Portsmouth,  R.  I.  in  1836, 
and  has  since  been  patented.  This  trough  and  the 
roof  is  made  of  one  strip  of  sheet  lead,  about  three 
inches  wide,  but  in  the  form  of  the  top  of  the  figure  2 
inverted,  with  the  foot  cut  off;  thus  forming  a  roof 
and  trough  of  one  strip,  and  then  bending  it  around  the 
tree  so  as  to  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  tre^.  It  is 
made  so  large  as  to  leave  a  space  of  one  inch  in  width 
between  the  trough  and  the  tree.  The  ends  are  then 
soldered  together,  thus  forming  a  trough  completely 
around  the  tree,  with  a  roof  over  it.  Three  or  more 
nails  are  tacked  into  the  tree  to  support  it,  and  the 
space  between  the  trough  and  the  tree  is  filled  with 
sea-weed,  hay,  straw,  husks,  tow,  cotton  waste,  or  any 
other  substance  that  will  prevent  the  insects  from  as- 
cending between  the  trough  and  the  tree,  and  is  easily 
compressed  by  the  growth  of  the  tree.  These  troughs 
were  put  on  to  three  orchards  belonging  to  Jonathan 
Dennis,  of  Portsmouth,  R.  I.  father  of  the  inventor, 
in  the  autumn  of  1837,  and  it  has  proved  to  be  the 
cheapest  and  most  effectual  remedy  ever  discovered. 
The  three  orchards  contained  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
trees,  varying  in  size  from  three  inches  to  upwards  of 
two  feet  in  diameter.  The  expense  was  about  thirty- 
five  or  forty  cents  per  tree.  Five  gallons  of  cheap  fish 
oil,  that  cost  forty  cents  per  gallon,  was  found  to 
answer  for  the  one  hundred  and  fifteen  trees  for  one 
year.  A  very  little  oil  was  put  into  the  troughs  the 
l^st   of  September.      After   it   bad   remained   several 


CANKEll-WORM.  255 

weeks  it  was  stirred,  and  in  a  few  weeks  afterwards  a 
little  more  oil  was  added ;  and  from  the  time  the  oil 
was  first  put  in  until  the  first  of  May  following,  there 
was  a  little  oil  put  in  twice,  and  the  oil  also  received 
two  or  three  stirrings.  Putting  the  oil  in  three  times 
and  stirring  it,  giving  the  trees  all  the  attention  neces- 
sary, was  less  labor  and  occupied  less  time  than  it 
would  have  taken  to  tar  the  trees  for  one  week.  This 
apparatus  destroyed  the  insects  so  completely  (which 
for  a  number  of  years  previous  had  been  so  numerous 
as  to  destroy  the  fruit)  that  it  was  difficult  to  find  one 
upon  the  trees,  and  the  crop  of  apples  was  so  large  as 
to  render  it  necessary  to  prop  the  trees.  This  appara- 
tus has  many  properties  to  recommend  it.  It  is  more 
eff'ectual,  more  durable,  and  cheaper  than  tin  troughs ; 
it  also  takes  less  oil  to  fill  a  circular  trough  than  it  does 
a  square  one,  for  a  tree  of  the  same  size.  The  packing 
is  more  easily  put  in,  as  the  space  is  of  a  uniform  width 
around  the  tree.  It  is  also  less  liable  to  get  out ;  and  if 
the  top  of  the  packing  was  daubed  with  a  little  tar,  it 
would  stick  it  together,  taking  care  not  to  put  any  of 
the  tar  upon  the  tree  or  the  trough,  but  only  upon  the 
packing.  This  trough  will  last  many  years  without 
being  made  larger;  and,  when  the  tree  has  grown  so  as 
to  fill  the  space  that  was  left  between  the  trough  aud  the 
tree,  the  trough  can  be  cut  open,  and  a  piece  soldered 
in,  so  as  to  make  it  large  enough  for  several  years  more. 
And  if  the  troughs  are  ever  taken  off,  the  lead  will  be 
worth  two  thirds  as  much  as  it  was  when  it  was  put  on. 
But  I  should  not  consider  it  safe  to  take  it  ofi*  while  there 
were  any  canker-worms  in  the  neighborhood,  for  they 
have  been  in  some  neighborhoods  for  the  last  fifty  years 
without  intermission,  according  to  the  accounts  of  the 
inhabitants.  Being  in  conversation  with  an  oil  mer- 
chant, I  inquired  what  kind  of  oil  would  remain 
longest  exposed  to  the  air  without  drying  upon  the 
surface  :  he  replied,  that  cod-fish  oil  would  never  dry 
perceptibly,    and  for  that  reason  was  never   used  for 


256  ON    SAVING    SEEDS. 

painting ;  and  of  course  would  be  the  best  to  put  in 
the  above-mentioned  troughs  for  the  destruction  of 
canker-worms.  —  A  Lover  of  good  Fruit. 


ON   SAVING   SEEDS. 


We  lose  immensely  by  not  taking  care,  in  season,  to 
save  the  best  seeds  for  spring  sowing.  In  the  multi- 
tude of  our  cares  we  forget,  and  need  often  to  be  re- 
minded of  the  proper  times  and  modes  of  preserving 
what  we  have  grown  in  our  gardens  and  in  our  fields. 
We  need  a  faithful  sentinel  whose  business  it  shall  be, 
like  the  preacher's,  to  remind  us  often  of  our  duty; 
and,  if  he  tells  nothing  new,  if  he  shows  us  nothing 
which  we  have  not  seen  before,  he  may  still  be 
more  useful  than  one  who  is  always  leading  us  into 
new  schemes,  and  urging  us  to  adopt  his  theories  which 
he  has  reduced  to  practice. 

In  general,  peas,  beans,  and  all  other  vegetables  that 
grow  in  pods,  should  be  preserved  for  seed  in  those 
pods  until  the  time  for  sowing.  Melons  of  all  kinds, 
pumpkins,  squashes,  cucumbers,  &c.  should  have  their 
seeds  taken  from  the  shell  and  washed ;  then  they 
should  be  laid  up  in  a  dry  place  secure  from  mice,  &c. 

Seed  Wheat.  If  we  could  ever  spare  the  time  — 
and  who  cannot  ?  —  we  might  easily  select  the  very 
best  of  seed  from  our  own  fields. 

Experiments  are  not  wanting  to  show  that,  in  most 
fields  of  wheat,  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the 
productiveness  and  the  qualities  of  the  different  heads. 
Some  will  ripen  much  earlier  than  others,  and  these 
should  therefore  never  be  sown  in  the  same  field  ;  for 
it  is  an  important  point  to  harvest  the  grain  as  soon  as 
it  is  ripe. 

It  is  also  ascertained  that  the  straw  of  certain  kinds 
of  wheat  is  much  heavier  than  that  of  other  kinds  ; 


MAKING    BUTTER. 


257 


that  the  straw  of  some  will  weigh  less  than  the  grain 
which  it  produces,  while  the  straw  of  other  kinds  will 
weigh  twice  as  much  as  the  grain. 

Very  little  attention  has  yet  been  bestowed,  in  New 
England,  on  this  subject.  We  sow  in  haste,  and  we 
reap  in  haste,  without  spending  time  to  examine  the 
different  varieties  in  the  same  field  ;  and  no  doubt  a 
dozen  different  kinds  of  wheat  and  of  rye  are  often 
sown  together. 

In  regard  to  potatoes,  we  have  generally  been  so 
careless  that  we  are  obliged  very  often  to  procure  new 
seed  from  those  who  have  been  more  careful.  It  is 
notorious  that  most  people  use  only  the  refuse  potatoes 
for  the  seed  of  a  new  crop  !  Can  it,  then,  be  matter 
of  surprise  that  our  potatoes  run  out  ?  If  we  should 
always  save  our  poorest  calves  and  pigs  for  breeders, 
we  should  be  obliged  to  send  to  Europe  for  cows  as 
often  as  we  do  to  our  neighbors  for  new  kinds  of  potatoes. 

In  regard  to  Indian  corn  we  have  been  more  cau- 
tious. This  has  ever  been  a  favorite  grain  in  this 
country,  and  more  care  has  been  taken  to  save  good 
seed.  The  consequence  is,  we  have  now  the  very 
finest  varieties  of  corn  ;  and  we  need  only  to  be  more 
careful  to  select  those  grains  for  seed  which  are  soonest 
ripe  in  the  field. 

But  who  goes  into  his  wheat  and  his  rye  fields,  his 
barley,  his  oat,  or  his  buckwheat  field,  and  selects  the 
best  heads  in  order  to  secure  a  prolific  or  an  early  va- 
riety ?  We  hardly  hear  of  such  an  instance ;  but  all 
this  must  be  done  before  we  arrive  at  perfection  in 
farming, 


MAKING   BUTTER. 


Many  rules  for  making  butter  have  been  given  to 
the  public,  and  some  of  them  are  good,  if  we  could 


258  MAKING    BUTTER. 

persuade  dairy-women  to  follow  them.  It  is  quite  an 
object  to  make  butter  of  the  first  quality,  if  we  make 
any,  since  the  purchasers  have  begun  to  bid  up  hand- 
somely for  the  best ;  and  the  difference  in  the  labor  of 
making  the  best  and  the  poorest  is  so  trifling  that  none 
should  think  of  making  any  of  inferior  quality. 

It  should  be  remembered  by  all  who  make  butter  for 
sale,  that,  for  several  years  past,  the  best  made,  the 
premium  butter,  has  brought  at  auction  more  than 
forty  cents  a  pound,  some  of  it  forty-five,  while 
ordinary  butter  has  not,  in  firkin,  commanded  half  that 
price.  To  lose  one  half  of  the  proceeds  of  the  dairy 
merely  for  want  of  skill  and  care  is  rather  more  than 
we  can  well  aff'ord  to  do,  and  it  is  time  to  resolve  not 
to  submit  to  this  loss  when  we  can  avoid  it. 

Much  of  the  butter  that  is  made  for  sale  in  sum- 
mer is  sent  off"  to  market  immediately,  and  before  the 
rancid  matter,  shut  up  in  the  lumps,  has  begun  to  fer- 
ment and  send  forth  its  efiiuvia  ;  and,  as  most  fresh- 
made  butter  will,  for  a  few  days,  taste  sweet,  the  pur- 
chaser makes  but  little  difference  in  price  ;  and  this  is 
the  principal  cause  why  so  great  a  proportion  of  our 
butter  is  carelessly  made.  It  is  hurried  off  to  market, 
and  is  not  suffered  to  rest  long  enough  to  rot  on  our 
hands.  The  old  tune  of  "Robin's  alive"  is  sung  ; 
"  If  it  dies  in  my  hands  you  may  saddle-back  me." 

To  make  butter  that  may  be  kept  sweet  through 
the  winter,  we  need  not  say  the  pails  and  the  pans 
must  be  perfectly  clean.  If  cream  is  to  be  kept  more 
than  three  days  before  churning,  it  must  be  salted  and 
daily  stirred.  When  the  butter  is  formed  and  gathered, 
the  buttermilk  should  be  all  turned  from  the  butter, 
and  a  good  quantity  of  pure  cold  water  should  be  put 
in  the  churn,  and  the  whole  should  be  agitated  for 
some  minutes,  that  no  buttermilk  may  lodge  in  the 
cavities  of  the  butter. 

We  are  well  aware  that  some  have  fancied  "  we 
wash  away  the  goodness  "  when  we  churn  the  butter 


MAKING    BUTTER.  259 

in  water  ;  but  we  are  happy  to  see  better  notions  lat- 
terly prevailing,  and  that  the  celebrated  highland 
Scotch  butter  is  made  as  our  own  experience  has 
proved  to  be  best.  There  is  no  mistake  about  it. 
The  buttermilk  left  in  the  butter  is  the  principal  cause 
of  its  rancid  taste  when  long  kept. 

The  butter  must  now  be  taken  out  with  a  small 
wooden  shovel  —  maple  wood  is  good  —  and  the  dairy- 
woman's  hand,  clean  or  unclean,  must  not  touch 
the  batter,  for  it  must  not  be  melted.  This  shovel 
should  be  used  to  work  over  the  butter  and  let  out  the 
water  contained  in  it;  and  the  next  day  it  must  be 
shoveled  over  again  and  worked  as  well  as  a  neat  ma- 
son works  his  mortar,  not  touching  his  hand  to  it. 

Salting  down  Butter.  On  the  first  working,  some 
salt  should  be  intermixed,  and  one  ounce  of  salt  to 
sixteen  of  butter  is  commonly  sufficient  ;  but,  as  much 
of  this  salt  will  be  washed  away  on  the  second  work- 
ing, it  will  be  necessary  to  add  more,  as  taste  may  re- 
quire. And  now,  on  the  second  working,  a  little  salt- 
petre and  a  little  pulverized  loaf  sugar  must  be  well 
mixed  with  the  salt  last  added.  We  have  found  one 
teaspoonful  of  saltpetre  and  two  of  sugar  quite  suffi- 
cient for  twelve  pounds  of  butter.  It  must  be  thor- 
oughly mixed,  so  that  every  part  of  the  butter  may 
have  a  share. 

This  should  be  packed  in  hard-wood  firkins,  as 
close  as  possible,  to  exclude  the  air.  No  brine  need  be 
poured  on,  for  the  salt  will  form  a  sufficiency  with  the 
moisture  of  the  batter  ;  and,  when  a  new  layer  is  to 
be  added,  this  brine  must  be  poured  off  to  let  the  two 
churnings  come  close  together. 

We  have  often  had  butter  put  up  in  this  manner  in 
September  and  in  October,  that  proved  perfectly  sweet 
in  the  following  June.  People  who  ate  of  it  could 
hardly  be  made  to  believe  it  had  been  made  eight  or 
nine  months. 

This  delicious    article,  this  indispensable  in  cook- 


260  POTATOES. 

ery,  is  more  often  spoiled  for  want  of  care  than  any 
thing  that  is  brought  to  market.  When  pure,  it  is  one 
of  the  most  wholesome  articles  of  diet,  and  no  pains 
should  be  spared  to  preserve  it  in  perfection. 


POTATOES. 

We  have  lately  given  some  hints  of  the  fallacy  of 
testing  the  prolific  qualities  of  potatoes  and  other  plants 
by  the  weight  or  the  number  of  seeds  planted.  A 
potato  may  be  so  subdivided  as  to  produce  an  hundred 
fold,  when,  in  the  usual  mode  of  planting,  it  may  not 
yield  ten  fold.  We  again  invite  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject in  noticing  an  experiment  made  by  the  editor  of 
the  Zanesville  Gazette, — a  very  valuable  and  inter- 
esting paper,  published  in  Ohio. 

It  seems  that,  in  a  very  accurate  experiment  made 
by  him,  one  pound  of  the  long  reds  —  the  La  Plata 
potato  —  produced  nine  pounds  more  than  the  Rohan 
potato  under  the  same  cultivation  ;  one  producing  thir- 
ty-two pounds  and  a  half,  and  the  other  forty  pounds 
and  a  half. 

The  long  red  is  a  great  favorite  of  ours,  but  we 
think,  in  our  soil,  the  Rohan  will  produce  most ;  but  we 
are  open  to  conviction,  and  hope  some  of  our  readers 
have  made  accurate  observations  on  the  comparative 
merits  of  the  two.  We  have  never  used  any  richer 
potatoes  than  the  long  Johns  when  they  have  had  time 
to  ripen. 

We  publish  the  editor's  observations  at  length. 

New  things  —  Rohan  Potatoes  vs.  Long  Reds.  We 
have  a  desire  for  improvement  sufficiently  strong  to 
prompt  us  to  make  trial  of  all  articles  which  are  sup- 
posed to  be  extraordinarily  valuable,  when  we  can  do 
so  without  incurring  an  unwarrantable  expense. 


POTATOES. 


261 


In  vegetables,  experiments  may  generally  be  made 
on  a  small  scale,  which,  if  properly  conducted,  would 
be  as  fair  tests,  and  lead  to  as  correct  conclusions,  as 
though  acres  of  land  and  hundreds  of  dollars  had  been 
put  at  risk.  Some  people  never  experiment  at  all. 
They  fancy  or  "  guess  "  that  some  things  are  better 
than  others,  and  thereupon  they  adopt  them,  and  con- 
tinue forever  to  use  them,  without  ever  knowing 
whether  the  articles  are  comparatively  profitable  or 
not.  A  man  takes  it  into  his  head  that  some  substance 
—  lime,  ashes,  bon-e  dust,  plaster  of  Paris,  or  something 
else  —  is  a  valuable  manure,  and  he  goes  on  to  use  it, 
but  in  such  a  manner  that  he  cannot  tell  what  its 
effects  are.  He  uses  the  same  substance  for  the  whole 
field,  and  he  cannot  tell  how  much  of  the  crop  is  to  be 
credited  to  the  manure  ;  and,  of  course,  he  does  not 
know  how  much  the  manure  is  worth.  If  he  had  used 
some  other  kind  of  manure  on  a  part  of  the  field,  and 
had  left  a  part  without  any  manure,  the  soil  being  of 
a  similar  quality,  he  could  easily  have  told,  by  calcu- 
lating the  proportional  yield  of  each  part,  which  was 
the  best  manure,  and  what  each  was  really  worth.  An 
experiment  of  this  kind  would  have  been  attended 
with  little  expense,  and  the  results  would  have  been  a 
good  guide  for  the  future.  We  once  knew  a  man  who 
was  in  the  habit  of  using  considerable  lime  on  his  land 
every  year,  as  he  thought  to  profit  ;  till,  by  making  an 
experiment,  he  ascertained  that  the  increase  of  his 
crops  had  been  attributed  to  a  wrong  cause.  Many 
people,  when  they  see  a  large  animal  or  a  large  vege- 
table, are  led  at  once  to  consider  that  the  race  or  varie- 
ty to  which  it  belongs  is  uncommonly  valuable,  without 
stopping  to  inquire  how  much  ground  it  occupied,  or  how 
much  labor  and  expense  attended  its  production.  Now, 
in  all  these  things,  profit  should  be  the  criterion. 
The  value  of  animals  should  be  reckoned  by  the  amount 
of  meat,  &c.  afforded  in  proportion  to  the  food  con- 
sumed ;  and  the  value  of  vegetables  by  the  sustenance 
23 


262  POTATOES. 

they  afford  in  proportion  to  the  ground  they  occupy 
and  the  expense  attending  their  cultivation.  To  this 
test  we  intend  to  bring  all  varieties  of  animals  and 
vegetables,  before  we  can  feel  fully  justified  in  making 
up  a  positive  judgment  upon  them. 

By  referring  to  our  memorandum-book,  we  find  that, 
on  the  26th  day  of  April  last,  we  planted  one  Rohan 
potato,  weighing  one  pound,  cut  into  thirteen  pieces, 
each  piece  containing  one  or  more  eyes,  and  making 
one  hill  to  each  piece.  We  also  planted,  at  the  same 
time,  the  same  weight  (one  pound)  of  the  kind  of  po- 
tatoes commonly  known  as  long  i^eds  or  La  Plata  reds, 
they  having  been  originally  brought  from  the  river  La 
Plata,  South  America.  These  were  cut  into  precisely 
the  same  number  of  pieces  as  the  Rohan,  and  made 
just  the  same  number  of  hills.  As  the  experiment 
may,  just  at  this  time,  be  regarded  as  rather  an  impor- 
tant one,  perhaps  the  details  may  not  be  uninteresting. 

The  soil  is  a  deep  alluvian,  with  rather  too  large  a 
proportion  of  clay  in  its  composition.  It  had  lain  for 
several  years  in  grass,  till  last  year  it  was  broken  up 
with  a  view  of  raising  a  crop  of  turnips ;  but  the  se- 
verity of  the  drought  destroyed  them.  The  past 
spring  it  was  well  manured  with  long  stable  manure, 
spread  evenly  over  the  surface  and  ploughed  in. 

It  was  then  furrowed  about  four  feet  apart,  and  the 
potatoes  planted  in  hills.  In  one  of  these  furrows  we 
planted  the  potatoes  above  mentioned.  There  was  no 
perceptible  variation  in  the  quality  of  the  soil,  and  we 
observed  the  utmost  exactness  in  planting  by  taking  a 
stick  of  a  convenient  length  and  marking  off  the  hills 
precisely  two  feet  apart.  In  cultivation,  they  received 
the  same  attention  as  the  rest  of  the  lot.  They  were 
worked  once  with  the  cultivator,  the  weeds  in  the  row 
were  cut  out  with  a  hoe,  and,  the  ground  being  rather 
heavy,  it  was  all  worked  over  once  afterwards  with 
the  spade. 

On  the  last  day  of  September  the  crop  was  harvested. 


LABORS    OF     NOVEMBER. 


263 


The  vines  of  all  the  kinds  were  dead.  The  result,  so 
far  as  the  experiment  was  concerned,  is  as  follows :  — 
One  pound  of  Rohan  seed  produced  thirty-two  and 
one  third  pounds  ;  one  pound  seed  of  long  reds  pro- 
duced forty-one  and  a  half  pounds  :  difference  in  favor 
of  the  long  reds,  nine  pounds. 

We  chose  the  long  reds  to  set  against  the  Rohans, 
in  this  experiment,  because  we  deem  them  far  the 
most  productive  kind  we  have  ever  been  acquainted 
with,  and  we  thought,  if  the  Rohans  could  beat  therrij 
there  could  be  no  doubt  that  they  would  beat  all. 

Now  we  do  not  say  that  this  experiment  is  wholly 
conclusive.  "  One  swallow  does  not  make  summer," 
is  the  old  saying.  But,  so  far  as  one  experiment  can 
be  taken  as  estabUshing  any  thing,  we  think  it  unob- 
jectionable ;  and,,  if  a  few  other  experiments  should 
show  similar  results,  we  should  consider  the  case  set- 
tled. We  should  be  glad  to  hear  from  others  on  the 
subject. 


LABORS  OF  NOVEMBER. 


We  must  recollect  that  it  is  dangerous  to  suifer  roots 
to  lie  in  the  ground,  in  this  latitude,  after  the  15th  of 
this  month.  We  will  warrant  them  up  to  that  time. 
Turnips  that  are  to  be  given  to  stock  may  have  their 
tops  cut  off  and  fed  out  before  they  are  dug  from  the 
ground  ;  but  those  intended  for  seed  should  not  be 
topped  until  they  are  dug  up,  and  then  the  tops  must 
not  be  cut  too  close  to  the  turnip.  They  may  be  left 
half  an  inch  in  length. 

Potatoes  often  project  out  of  the  ground,  and  the 
exposed  part  suffers  in  a  hard  frost.  It  is  time  these 
roots  were  in  the  cellar. 

Corn  is  sometimes  piled  into  the  barn  to  lie  until  a 
leisure  hour  is  found  to  busk  it  out.     If  it  has  been 


264 


LABORS    OF    NOVEMBER. 


brought  in  earl 7,  it  will  gather  heat  in  the  heap;  if 
late,  the  husks  have  suffered.  It  is  better  to  husk  it 
out  as  fast  as  it  is  carted  up.  The  husks  will  come  off 
easier,  and  the  corn  will  dry  better. 

The  compost  that  has  been  carried  on  to  grass-land 
may  better  be  spread  this  autumn  than  suffered  to  lie 
in  heaps  until  spring.  The  frost  remains  so  long  in 
the  heaps  that  they  cannot  be  spread  before  the  first 
of  May,  and  then  we  have  no  time. 

Irrigation  of  Grass-Lands.  This  was  more  ex- 
tensively practised  in  years  gone  by  than  at  present. 
We  find  it  attended  with  much  labor ;  the  trenches 
must  be  watched  and  kept  nearly  on  a  level,  or  the 
water  will  not  spread  over  the  land.  Another  objec- 
tion, of  more  weight,  lies  in  the  poor  quality  of  the 
grass  thus  forced  into  existence.  If  manure  has  been 
spread  over  the  surface,  and  the  water  has  been  made 
to  flow  freely  among  it,  the  grass  will  not  be  eaten  by 
cattle. 

We  have  seen  hay,  grown  in  this  way,  that  was 
worth  but  little.  We  have  seen  it  look  bright  and  in- 
viting, having  the  form  and  the  appearance  of  the  best 
of  hay,  but  not  worth  half  the  price. 

In  our  low  lands,  and  oiu'  peat-swamps,  that  we 
have  been  bringing  into  English  grass,  we  flush  no 
water  over  the  surface.  We  choose  to  let  it  take  the 
rains  and  the  dews  of  heaven  in  addition  to  the  mois- 
ture that  naturally  rises  from  these  low  lands,  and  w^e 
obtain  hay  but  very  little  inferior  in  quality  to  that 
which  is  raised  on  lands  that  have  been  in  tillage. 

There  may  be  cases  where  it  is  advisable  to  irrigate 
the  surface  of  grass-lands,  but,  when  this  is  practised, 
care  should  always  be  taken  that  the  water  be  not  suf- 
fered to  flow  too  late  in  the  season.  The  current 
should  be  diverted  from  the  grass  two  or  three  weeks 
before  mowing  time,  that  its  quality  may  be  improved. 

Cattle,  of  all  descriptions,  will  require  a  shelter  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  month.     Old  cattle  require  more 


ON  THE  SUCCESSION  OF  CROPS.         265 

warmth  than  young  ones ;  but  none  in  this  climate 
require  to  be  shut  up  in  a  close  building.  It  is  as  inju- 
rious to  them  as  a  close  room  to  the  human  species,  — 
as  close  covering  of  the  head  of  infants.  We  are  con- 
fident that  all  young  cattle  will  winter  better  when 
sheltered  by  an  open  shed  that  keeps  off  rains  and 
winds,  than  when  shut  up  in  a  barn  with  tight- 
matched  boards. 

Calves.  It  has  long  been  a  maxim,  that  calves 
should  not  be  kept  too  close  during  the  first  winter. 
They  must  be  kept  on  good  hay  :  rowen  is  excellent 
for  their  young  teeth,  as  yet  unused  to  grind  dry  fod- 
der ;  and  this  should  be  fed  to  them  in  the  first  of 
the  winter,  when  they  are  likely  to  suffer  most. 

Turnips  and  potatoes  are  excellent  for  calves,  and^a 
very  few  of  these  roots  will  keep  the  animals  growing 
through  the  winter.  The  best  remedy  we  have  ever 
tried  for  scours  in  calves  is  boiled  skim-milk.  These 
animals  require  something  more  than  hay  to  carry 
them  through  the  first  winter.  They  should  not  be 
suffered  to  stop  in  their  growth  at  this  age.  By  a  little 
attention  in  the  first  winter,  they  may  be  brought  to 
give  milk  one  whole  year  sooner  than  those  that  have 
been  neglected.  It  is  more  an  object  to  bring  them  to 
milk  while  young,  than  to  make  them  of  large  size. 


[From  Chaptal's  Chemistry.] 
ON   THE  SUCCESSION   OF  CROPS. 

A  SOIL  may  be  forced,  by  extreme  care,  enormous 
expense,  and  the  use  of  manure  without  measure,  to 
produce  all  sorts  of  crops  ;  but  it  is  not  in  such  sort  of 
proceedings  that  the  science  of  agriculture  consists. 
Agriculture  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  an  object  of 
luxury  ;  and,  whenever  the  produce  of  agricultural 
23* 


266         ON  THE  SUCCESSION  OF  CROPS. 

management  does  not  amply  repay  the  care  and  ex- 
pense bestowed  upon  it,  the  system  followed  is  bad. 

A  good  agriculturist  will,  in  the  first  place,  make 
himself  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  his  soil,  in  order 
to  know  the  kind  of  plants  to  which  it  is  best  adapted : 
this  knowledge  may  be  easily  acquired  by  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  species  of  the  plants  produced  upon  it 
spontaneously,  or  by  experiments  made  upon  the  land, 
or  upon  analogous  soil  in  the  neighborhood. 

But  however  well  adapted  the  soil  and  climate  may 
be  to  the  cultivation  of  any  particular  kind  of  vegeta- 
ble, the  former  soon  ceases  to  be  productive,  if  con- 
stantly appropriated  to  the  culture  of  plants  of  the 
same  or  analogous  species.  In  order  that  land  may  be 
cultivated  successfully,  various  kinds  of  vegetables 
must  be  raised  upon  it  in  succession,  and  the  rotation 
must  be  conducted  with  intelligence,  that  none  un- 
suiled  either  to  the  soil  or  climate  maybe  introduced. 
It  is  the  art  of  varying  the  crops  upon  the  same  soil,  of 
causing  different  vegetables  to  succeed  one  another,  and 
of  understanding  the  effect  of  each  upon  the  soil,  that 
can  alone  establish  that  good  order  of  succession  which 
constitutes  cropping. 

A  good  system  of  cropping  is,  in  my  opinion,  the 
best  guarantee  of  success  that  the  farmer  can  have : 
without  this,  all  is  vague,  uncertain,  and  hazardous. 
In  order  to  establish  this  good  system  of  cropping,  a 
degree  of  knowledge  is  necessary,  which  unhappily  is 
wanting  to  the  greater  part  of  our  practical  farmers.  I 
shall  here  state  certain  facts  and  principles,  which  may 
serve  as  guides  in  this  important  branch  of  agriculture. 

More  extensive  information  upon  this  subject  may 
be  found  in  tlie  excellent  works  of  Messrs.  Yvart  and 
Pictet. 

Principle  1.  All  plants  exhaust  the  soil.  Plants 
are  supported  by  the  earth,  the  juices  with  which  this 
is  impregnated  forming  their  principal  aliment.  Water 
serves  as  the  vehicle  for  conveying  these  juices  into 


ON   THE    SUCCESSION    OF    CROPS.  267 

the  organs,  or  presenting  them  to  the  suckers  of  the 
roots  by  which  they  are  absorbed ;  thus  the  progress  of 
vegetation  tends  constantly  to  impoverish  the  soil,  and, 
if  the  nutritive  juices  in  it  be  not  renewed,  it  w^ill  at 
length  become  perfectly  barren. 

A  soil  well  furnished  with  manure  may  support  sev- 
eral successive  crops,  but  each  one  will  be  inferior  to 
the  preceding,  till  the  earth  is  completely  exhausted. 

Principle  2.  All  plants  do  not  exhaust  the  soil 
equally.  Plants  are  nourished  by  air,  water,  and  the 
juices  contained  in  the  soil  ;  but  the  different  kinds  of 
plants  do  not  require  the  same  kinds  of  nourishment  in 
equal  degrees.  There  are  some  that  require  to  have 
their  roots  constantly  in  water ;  others  are  best  suited 
with  dry  soils ;  and  there  are  those,  again,  that  prosper 
only  in  the  best  and  most  ri<3hly  manured  land. 

TIt^  grains  and  the  greater  part  of  the  grasses  push 
up  long  stalks,  in  which  the  fibrous  principle  predomi- 
nates :  these  are  garnished  at  the  base  by  leaves,  the 
dry  texture  and  small  surface  of  which  do  not  permit 
them  to  absorb  much  either  of  air  or  water  :  the  prin- 
cipal nourishment  is  absorbed  from  the  ground  by  their 
roots  :  their  stalks  furnish  little  or  no  food  for  animals  ; 
iso  that  these  plants  exhaust  the  soil  without  sensibly 
repairing  the  loss,  either  by  their  stalks,  which  are  cut 
to  be  applied  to  a  particular  use,  or  by  their  roots,  which 
are  all  that  remain  in  the  ground,  and  which  are  dried 
and  exhausted  in  completing,  the  process  of  fructifica- 
tion. 

Those  plants,  on  the  contrary,  that  are  provided  with 
large,  fleshy,  porous,  green  leaves,  imbibe  from  the 
atmosphere  carbonic  acid  and  water  ;  and  receive  from 
the  earth  the  other  substances  by  which  they  are  nour- 
ished. If  these  are  cut  green,  the  loss  of  juices  which 
the  soil  has  sustained  by  their  growth  is  less  sensibly 
felt,  as  a  part  of  it  is  compensated  for  by  their  roots. 
Nearly  all  the  plants  that  are  cultivated  for  fodder  are 
of  this  kind. 


268  ON   THE    SUCCESSION    OF    CROPS. 

There  are  some  plants,  which,  though  generally 
raised  for  the  sake  of  their  seed,  exhaust  the  soil  less 
than  the  grains :  these  are  of  the  numerous  family  of 
leguminous  plants,  and  which  sustain  a  middle  rank 
between  the  two  of  which  I  have  just  spoken.  Their 
perpendicular  roots  divide  the  soil,  and  their  large 
leaves,  and  thick,  loose,  porous  stalks  readily  absorb 
air  and  water.  These  parts  preserve  for  a  long  time 
the  juices  with  which  they  are  impregnated,  and  yield 
them  to  the  soil,  if  the  plant  be  buried  in  it  before 
arriving  at  maturity :  when  this  is  done,  the  field  is 
still  capable  of  receiving  and  nourishing  a  good  crop  of 
corn.  Beans  produce  this  effect  in  a  remarkable  de- 
gree ;  peas  to  a  less  extent. 

Generally  speaking,  those  plants  that  are  cut  green, 
or  whilst  in  flower,  exhaust  the  soil  but  little:  till  this 
period  they  have  derived  their  support  almost  exclu- 
sively from  the  air,  eaith,  and  water;  their  stalks  and 
roots  are  charged  with  juices,  and  those  parts  that  are 
left  in  the  earth  after  mowing  will  restore  to  it  all  that 
had  been  received  from  it  by  the  plant. 

From  the  time  when  the  seed  begins  to  be  formed, 
the  whole  system  of  nourishment  is  changed:  the  plant 
continues  to  receive  nourishment,  for  the  perfecting  of 
its  seed,  from  the  atmosphere  and  the  earth,  and  also 
yields  to  the  grain  all  the  juices  it  had  secreted  in  its 
own  stalks  and  roots:  by  this  means  the  stalks  and 
roots  are  dried  and  exhausted.  When  the  fruits  have 
arrived  at  maturity,  the  skeleton  remains  of  the  plant, 
if  abandoned  to  the  earth,  restore  to  it  only  a  small 
portion  of  what  had  been  taken  from  it. 

The  oleaginous  seeds  exhaust  the  soil  more  than  the 
farinaceous  seeds;  and  the  agriculturist  cannot  be  at 
too  much  pains  to  free  his  grounds  from  weeds  of  that 
nature,  which  so  readily  impoverish  them ;  especially 
from  the  wild  mustard,  sinapis  arvensis,  with  which 
cultivated  fields  are  so  often  covered. 


PLASTER. 


PLASTER. 


269 


We  hope  more  experiments  will  be  made  in  New 
England  on  the  use  of  this  article.  We  are  well  aware 
there  are  lands  on  which  it  seems  to  have  no  beneficial 
effect;  but  we  have  soils  on  which  it  has  a  wonderful 
operation  ;  and,  where  we  have  such,  this  is  the  cheapest 
manure  or  stimulant  that  can  be  applied. 

Last  week  we  were  informed,  by  a  gentleman  of 
South  Andover,  of  an  experiment  made  with  it  by  Mr. 
Asa  E.  Abbott,  of  that  place,  on  his  corn-field.  Mr. 
Abbott  put  plaster  on  the  hills  of  many  alternate  rows 
of  corn,  leaving  half  of  them  without  it.  The  plas- 
tered corn  looked  much  best  through  the  summer,  and, 
on  harvesting  his  corn,  he  weighed  the  ears  of  all  the 
rows.  The  corn  on  the  plastered  rows  weighed  fifty- 
two  pounds,  while  the  corn  on  the  rows  not  plastered 
weighed  less  than  half  that  number  of  pounds. 

Mr.  Abbott's  soil  was  not  what  would  be  called 
clayey.  It  was  rather  gravelly,  —  not  a  light  soil,  —  it 
was  not  sandy.  The  plaster  was  put  on  greensward, 
ploughed  in  the  spring. 

A  neighbor  of  Mr.  Abbott  tried  an  equally  accurate 
experiment  on  old  ground  that  had  been  planted  the 
year  before.  He  found,  on  weighing  his  corn,  he  had 
one  third  more  where  he  had  used  plaster  than  where 
he  had  used  none. 

We  are  not  certain  that  plaster  operates  more  power- 
fully, in  general,  on  greensward  than  elsewhere,  though 
we  know  that  wood-ashes  are  worth  twice  as  much 
when  so  applied,  they  contributing  to  its  decomposition. 
Still,  plaster  may  sometimes  do  us  more  essential  ser- 
vice on  greensward.  We  will  suppose  a  case  where 
the  land  was  poor,  and  now  a  good  coat  of  manure  is 
spread  on  equally  over  the  field.  Here,,  in  a  proper 
soil,  plaster  in  the  hill  will  prove  very  efficacious ;  for 
it  gives  the  corn  an  early  start  to  take  advantage  of 


270  COARSE    MEADOW-GRASS. 

the  manure.  Now  greensward  land,  where  a'  good 
crop  of  grass  has  been  ploughed  in,  is  situated  much  like 
the  last  described :  something  is  wanted  in  the  hill  to 
enable  the  corn  to  take  advantage  of  the  other  matter. 

There  is  another  reason  Avhy  plaster  may  sometimes 
operate  better  on  greensward  than  on  old  ground. 
Greensward  is  more  liable  to  suffer  for  the  want  of  suf- 
ficient moisture  ;  and  one  of  the  modes  in  which  plaster 
operates  is  to  draw  moisture  from  the  atmosphere. 

Much  depends  on  the  right  mode  of  using  manures 
and  plaster.  If  corn  has  been  manured  in  the  hill, 
and  not  otherwise,  it  might  prove  injurious  to  the  crop 
to  stimulate  it  too  much  in  the  fore  port  of  the  season, 
by  any  means  whatever.  It  might  be  top-heavy ;  we 
might  have  more  stalks  than  corn.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  potatoes. 


COARSE  MEADOW-GRASS. 


Though  there  is  plenty  of  grass  this  season,  none 
should  be  lost.  We  notice  that  some  farmers  neglect  to 
cut  their  coarsest  meadows  when  th^y  think  they  have 
a  supply  of  better  hay  for  their  stock.  This  is  waste. 
It  is  much  easier  to  make  manure  than  to  purchase  it  ; 
and  all  the  coarse  grass,  Vv'hether  in  the  fields  or  in  the 
pastures,  should  be  gathered  and  put  into  the  barns  or 
into  stacks.  It  sometimes  happens  we  are  short  of  hay 
in  the  spring,  and  we  are  never  more  likely  to  be  so 
than  when  we  were  confident  of  a  good  supply  in 
the  fall. 

This  coarse  hay  will  often  serve  a  good  turn  in  the 
spring  when  cattle  are  short  of  grass ;  but,  in  any 
event,  it  is  exceedingly  valuable  as  litter  for  horses  and 
for  neat  stock.  It  multiplies  manure  while  it  makes  a 
comfortable  bed  for  them,  and  none  of  it  should  be 
suffered  to  wither  away  in  the  field. 


TRANSPLANTING,  271 


TRANSPLANTING. 


We  see  that  some  are  recommending  the  practice  of 
transplanting  trees  in  autumn,  but  we  think  this  is  not 
the  best  season.  If  the  intent  is  to  set  out  trees,  as 
most  people  do,  to  be  trimmed  by  horned  cattle,  and  to 
be  hoed  by  the  hogs,  it  is  not  of  so  much  consequence 
at  what  season  the  operation  is  performed. 

But  if  it  is  desired  to  have  a  thrifty  orchard,  that  will 
be  productive  in  this  present  century,  that  will  con- 
tinue growing,  notwithstanding  the  removal  of  the 
roots  to  a  distant  field,  it  is  of  some  consequence  to 
choose  the  best  season  of  the  year  for  the  removal. 

Trees  that  are  of  the  right  age,  and  that  are  properly 
set,  require  no  staking  :  they  do  better  to  depend  on 
their  own  strength  than  to  be  tied  up.  But  they  should 
always  be  supported  with  litter,  or  straw,  or  poor  hay, 
placed  about  the  roots ;  and  if  the  land  is  not  rich, 
some  coarse  manure  should  be  placed  on  the  surface 
about  the  tree.  But  if  trees  are  transplanted  in  autumn, 
it  is  dangerous  to  place  any  material  of  this  kind  in  that 
place  for  fear  of  the  mice. 

We  cannot  see  any  propriety  in  exposing  young 
trees  in  new  fresh  earth,  to  stand  and  be  racked  six 
months  before  there  is  any  possibility  of  their  taking 
root. 

The  best  mode  that  we  have  tried  is  to  take  up  our 
trees  early  in  spring,  and  bury  their  roots  in  a  cool 
place  until  the  ground  has  become  warm  and  mellow, 
so  that  it  may  be  placed  nicely  about  the  roots.  This 
need  not  be  done  before  the  first  of  May.  If  the  trees 
are  then  carefully  set,  they  will  begin  to  grow  imme- 
diately, and  will  often  extend  their  limbs  one  foot 
during  the  first  season.  They  will  bear  in  four  or  five 
years. 

We  intend,  at  the  proper  season,  to  be  very  minute 
in  describing  our  mode  of  setting  trees,  and  the  reasons 
which  influence  us. 


272  CORRESPONDENCE. 

We  have  now  nothing  farther  to  say  than  to  dissuade 
from  the  practice  of  fall-setting,  feeling  confident  that 
much  is  gained  by  setting  in  the  spring. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Boston  Cultivator : 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  noticed,  in  your  Cultivator  of  last 
week,  a  communication  stating  the  result  of  an  experi- 
ment made  by  planting  the  Rohan  and  long  red  pota- 
toes, by  way  of  comparison,  with  which  I  was  much 
interested.  I,  sir,  have  tried  an  experiment  this  season 
on  potatoes,  though  mine  was  not  a  comparison  be- 
tween different  kinds  of  potatoes  and  between  different 
manners  of  seeding  with  the  same  kind.  I  have  often 
heard  it  said  that  the  eyes  of  potatoes  might  be  cut  out 
and  planted,  and  the  main  body  of  the  potatoes  saved 
for  consumption,  and  the  crop  be  equally  good.  Feel- 
ing anxious  to  ascertain  the  truth  on  this  subject,  and 
likewise  to  know  the  relative  value  of  small  and  large 
potatoes,  whole  and  cut  ones.  &c.  I  resolved  to  satisfy 
myself  by  experiment.  The  spot  I  selected  for  the 
experiment  was  prepared  and  manured  as  nearly  alike 
in  every  part  as  possible  :  the  strip  of  ground  was  only 
wide  enough  for  two  rows  :  this  strip  I  divided  into  six 
pieces  containing  four  hills  each,  and  each  piece  of 
four  hills  I  seeded  differently  from  every  other;  and, 
although  it  was  quite  late  (the  first  of  July)  when  I 
planted  them,  and  my  crop  small,  as  I  expected,  yet  I 
do  not  know  why  the  comparison  would  not  be  just, 
the  lateness  of  the  season  being  as  favorable  for  one 
plan  of  seeding  as  for  another.  Last  week  I  dug  my 
experiment  field,  as  I  called  it.  I  dug  each  lot  of  four 
hills  by  itself,  and  v/eighed  them  myself,  that  I  might 
feel  satisfied  that  there  was  no  mistake  in  weighing. 
For  the  sake  of  convenience,  I  shall  give   you   the 


CORRESPONDENCE.  273 

weight  of  the  six  potato-fields,  of  four  hills  each,  in 
proportions  or  parts  as  follows : 

Parts. 
Lot  Isl,  four  hills,  one  large  potato,  cut  in  two  pieces,  in  each 

hill,  produced 13 

Lot  2d,  four  hills,  one  large  whole  potato  in  each  hill,  ....     15 
Lot  3d,  four  hills,  the  eyes  of  one  large  potato  in  each  hill,     .     .      3  ' 
Lot  4th,  four  hills,  four  small  potatoes  (which  together  would 

weigh  about  half  as  much  as  one  of  the  large  potatoes)  in 

each  hill, ' 10 

Lot  5th,  four  hills,-lwo  potatoes,  about  as  heavy  as  one  of  the 

large  ones,  and  cut  in  two  pieces  each,  in  each  hill,    ...     11 
Lot  6th,  four  hills,  one  large  potato,  cut  into  eight  pieces,  in  each 

hill,       9 

The  potatoes  above  called  large  were  all  about  the 
same  size.  From  this  experiment  I  have  satisfied  my- 
self, at  least,  on  these  points :  one  is,  if  we  wish  to 
study  economy,  it  would  be  better  to  eat  less,  and 
plant  less,  and  let  the  potatoes  have  their  eyes ;  the 
next  is,  we  cannot  plant  too  laro;e  seed  ;  and  the  third 
is,  we  cannot  cut  potatoes  too  little.  I  have  tried  this 
experiment  for  my  own  benefit,  but,  sir,  if  you  think 
it  would  be  any  benefit  to  the  public,  you  are  at  liberty 
to  publish  it.  1  intend  to  try  the  same  experiment 
again  next  year,  and  plant  early. 

Yours  affectionately,         Marshall  S.  Rice. 

Newton  Centre,  Oct.  29ih,  1839. 

We  are  much  gratified  with  the  receipt  of  the 
above  from  M.  S.  Rice,  Esq.  If  gentlemen  would  try 
more  experiments  on  a  small  scale,  in  all  branches  of 
husbandry,  they  would  confer  lasting  benefits  on  the 
community.  We  want  authenticated  facts  ;  we  should 
not  be  satisfied  with  guessing  what  modes  are  best. 

For  ourselves,  we  have  always  succeeded  better 
when  we  planted  without  cutting  our  potatoes  than 
when  we  cut  them.  We  have  known  good  crops 
raised,  in  some  seasons,  when  the  eyes  only  were 
planted  ;  in  other  seasons  not  half  a  crop  would  be 
realized.  We  know  not  yet  the  reason  of  this  differ- 
ence. Will  some  one  tell  us  ?  —  Ed. 
24 


274  THE    BROWN    CORN. 

[From  the  Cheshire  Farmer.] 

THE  BROWN  CORN. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  we  previously  have  given 
some  account  of  a  kind  of  corn  denominated  the 
''  Brown  corn."  We  procured,  last  spring,  one  and  a 
half  bushel  of  this  corn|of  Mr.  Brown,  and  planted  one 
acre  with  it,  and  sold  the  rest.  Our  acre  did  very 
well,  producing,  as  was  judged  by  many  farmers  who 
saw  it,  not  far  from  forty  bushels.  As  we  picked  a  part 
of  it  for  seed,  and  fed  out  some  without  measuring, 
we  are  not  able  to  give  the  exact  amount,  though  it 
would  not  vary  much  from  forty  bushels.  It  is  a  large 
eight-rowed  corn,  and  very  early :  a  specimen  of  it 
may  be  seen  at  this  office.  We  exhibited  some  of  it  at 
the  last  meeting  of  the  society  in  this  county,  and  find 
it  took  very  well  with  the  farmers  in  this  section.  We 
have  already  had  orders  for  some  ten  bushels  of  it  for 
seed. 

Concluding  that  what  we  raised  would  go  but  little 
way  in  supplying  the  demand,  and  desiring  not  again 
to  be  treed  with  corn,  we  proceeded  personally  to 
the  farm  of  Mr.  Brown,  a  distance  of  ninety-five  miles, 
examined  his  field,  and  purchased  so  much  of  his  corn 
as  he  would  spare,  suitable  for  seed,  which  in  due  time 
we  shall  have  on  hand  for  the  accommodation  of  farmers 
in  this  section. 

A  few  days  since  we  received  the  following  letter 
from  Mr.  Brown,  which  we  take  the  liberty  to  publish : 

Moultonborough,  (L.  I.)  Oct.  16,  1839. 
B.  Cooke,  Esq. :  Dear  Sir,  —  I  harvested  my  corn 
last  week,  and  have  a  fine  lot  of  seed  traced  in  fine 
order.  On  account  of  tracing  so  much,  I  could  not 
measure  it  in  the  usual  way,  but  had  it  weighed  by 
the  man    appointed  to   measure    crops  for  premiums. 


THE    BROWN    CORN.  275 

The  whole  crop  on  the  acre,  in  ears,  weighed  eight 
thousand  and  fifty-one  pounds.  We  shelled  both  of 
the  traced  and  the  untraced,  to  get  the  amount  in 
bushels  :  of  that  which  was  traced,  seventy  pounds 
made  a  bushel  ;  of  that  which  was  not  traced,  sixty- 
eight  and  three  fourths  pounds  made  a  bushel :  whole 
amount,  one  hundred  and  sixteen  bushels.  We  first 
went  over  the  piece  and  selected  all  that  was  suitable 
for  seed,  which  was  over  one  half  in  weight. 

Mr.  Lamprey  measured  his  the  usual  way,  by  meas- 
uring all  in  a  basket  and  shelling  one  basketful,  and 
had  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  bushels,  for  which  he 
obtained  the  first  premium.  Mr.  Pilsbury,  on  Cow 
Island,  measured  his  in  the  same  way,  and  had  one 
hundred  and  thirty,  and  took  the  second  premium, 
there  being  but  two  premiums  offered  by  the  society. 
But  the  committee  on  crops,  considering  the  exact 
manner  in  which  I  obtained  the  measurement,  and 
superior  quality  of  the  specimen  which  I  presented, 
recommended  in  their  report  to  award  me  a  premium, 
which  was  accepted,  and  I  obtained  a  premium  for  the 
excellence  of  my  corn.  It  seemed  to  be  the  opinion  of 
many  before  harvest,  that  I  should  have  most  on  an 
acre  ;  but  the  season  being  more  suitable  for  their 
ground,  it  being  dryer  than  mine,  partly  accounts  for 
the  result,  and  the  manner  they  measured,  which  can- 
not be  so  exact  as  that  of  weighing,  will  also  partly 
account  for  it.  By  ploughing  in  the  manure  very  deep, 
I  did  not  probably  get  so  much  of  the  strength  of  it  as 
if  the  season  had  been  dryer ;  but  I  would  not  dis- 
courage the  practice  of  deep  ploughing,  and  well  mix- 
ing the  manure  with  the  soil.  I  still  think  it  the  best 
way  :  if  in  some  seasons  we  do  not  get  so  much  of  its 
strength,  we  retain  the  manure  and  enrich  the  soil. 
I  am  yours  with  respect, 

John  Brown,  2d. 


27&  FRUIT-TREES. 


FRtriT-TREEiS, 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Boston  Cultivator  : 

The  growing  of  good  fruit  has  been  much  neglected 
heretofore,  and  does  not  as  yet  receiv^e  half  the  atten- 
tion its  importance  demands.  Many  people  are  dis- 
couraged from  planting  an  orchard,  because  several 
years  must  elapse  before  it  comes  into  bearing,  making 
the  remark  we  so  often  hear,  "  I  shall  never  live  to  eat 
the  fruits  of  it  ;  '^  but  how  many  men  are  there,  with 
a  prospect  of  living  many  years,  who  regret  that  they 
had  not  planted  an  orchard  which  might  now  have 
been  a  source  of  pleasure  as  well  as  profit  to  them. 
There  are  many  young  and  thrifty  orchards  in  the 
country,  and  not  a  grafted  tree  among  them  ;  and  yet 
grafting  and  inoculating  are  operations  so  simple  that 
they  may  be  performed  by  almost  any  one,  by  giving 
the  subject  a  little  attention.  If  these  trees  were 
grafted  with  good  varieties  of  winter  fruit,  they  would 
in  a  few  years  afford  quite  an  income,  with  a  compara- 
tively small  investment :  winter  apples  will  always  pay 
the  expense  of  gathering,  be  they  ever  so  plenty,  while 
the  making  of  cider  is  often  attended  with  loss,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  cold,  disagreeable  work.  There  is  con- 
siderable attention  paid  to  quinces  at  the  present  day, 
and  a  plantation  of  them  in  a  bearing  state  is  a  very 
profitable  concern.  One  hundred  quince-trees,  full 
grown,  in  a  bearing  year,  will  afford  as  much  income 
as  a  small  farm  :  they  are  very  easily  raised,  as  they 
grow  from  cuttings,  and  send  up  many  suckers  from 
the  roots,  which  may  be  taken  up  and  planted  out. 
Forsyth  says  it  improves  the  fruit  both  in  quantity  and 
quality  to  graft  the  trees.  The  smaller  fruits,  such  as 
currants  and  gooseberries,  may  be  cultivated  with  little 
trouble  :  and  one  who  has  a  garden,  may  have  a  good 
row  of  currant-bushes  :  they  grow  readily  from  cuttings : 
they  do  best  in  a  shaded  situation,  or  by  a  south  fence  ; 


FRUIT-TREES.  277 

and,  by  keeping  them  free  from  grass,  and  well  pruned, 
they  will  bear  profusely.  Currants  are  a  very  grateful 
as  well  as  wholesome  fruit.  There  are  many  other 
kinds  of  fruit  which  might  be  cultivated  with  profit,  as 
well  as  to  gratify  the  palate  :  they  may  be  grown  ac- 
cording to  the  different  tastes  of  individuals,  and 
though  in  some  instances  the  returns  should  not  pay 
the  expense,  yet  the  pleasure  enjoyed  in  nurturing 
them,  watching  their  growth,  and  finally  tasting  the 
fruit,  will  make  ample  amends  for  the  small  pecuniary 
loss.  O.  V.  H. 

November^  1839. 

The  above  communication  is  from  an  unknown 
hand.  We  presume  it  is  for  publication,  and  therefore 
give  it  a  place. 

The  importance  of  rearing  good  fruits  is  not  general- 
ly estimated.  We  have  infinitely  the  advantage  of  the 
English  in  this  business  ;  and,  if  we  please,  we  can 
easily  supply  that  market. 

A  gentleman  from  Medford,  the  other  day,  observed 
to  us  that  a  new  era  was  dawning  on  commerce.  That, 
by  means  of  the  rapid  communication  by  steamboats, 
we  could  soon  send  to  Europe  articles  that  we  should 
not  trust  on  a  long  voyage. 

He  observed  that  nothing  was  more  acceptable  to  a 
friend  in  England  than  a  present  of  our  native  fruits.. 
But  for  home  consumption  they  are  valuable,  and 
should  by  all  means  be  made  plenty.  People  who  are 
fond  of  fine  fruits  are  not  generally  addicted  to  ardent 
spirits  ]  and  a  taste  for  fine  fruits  may  be  acquired  quite 
as  easily  as  a  taste  for  gin.  A  large  portion  of  our 
community  are  preaching  strenuously  against  the  use 
of  rum,  and  horrid  stories  are  daily  told  to  terrify  us 
out  of  our  vicious  taste.  These  have  become  very  old 
stories  now,  and  are  scarcely  worth  telling  again. 
Would  not  these  preachers  do  better  to  shift  their 
course  a  little,  and  try  to  persuade  a  vicious  world  to 
24* 


278  VEGETATIVE    POWER    OF    SEA-SAND. 

adopt  substitutes  for  these  poisonous  drugs  ?  If  "  moral 
suasion  "  is  not  quite  tart  enough  for  their  tastes,  we 
invito  them  to  try  apple-suasion,  pear-suasion,  grape- 
suasion,  and  peach-suasion.  This  would  give  a  little 
variety,  at  least,  to  the  sermons,  and  serve  to  keep  us 
awake. 

It  will  be  found  quite  difficult  to  force  people  to  give 
up  all  their  luxuries  at  once,  and  we  may  find  it  more 
feasible  to  divert  the  taste  to  some  luxuries  of  an  inno- 
cent nature,  than  to  wholly  forbid  the  use  of  them. 

We  know  there  is  a  small  party  that  travels  on  the 
high  pressure  principle  ;'  and  they  forbid  the  use  of  tea 
and  coffee  :  but  with  all  our  tendencies  towards  tem- 
perance, we  think  it  impolitic  to  dispense  with  these. 

Let  us  diligently  cultivate  the  best  fruits  our  climate 
will  produce,  and  we  may,  in  time,  forget  entirely  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit.  —  Ed. 


VEGETATIVE   POWER    OF    SEA-SANI>. 

A  FEW  days  since,  a  quantity  of  sea-sand  was  car- 
ried out  of  Morecambe  bay,  about  a  mile  from  the 
Furness  shore.  It  had  been,  less  than  an  hour  pre- 
viously, covered  a  considerable  depth  by  the  tide,  and 
contained  several  cockles  and  other  shell-fish.  It  was 
immediately  placed  in  pits,  or  beds,  fifteen  inches  deep, 
and  sown,  without  manure  or  admixture  of  any  kind, 
just  in  the  state  it  was  when  taken  from  the  bay, 
with  wheat,  barley,  peas,  mustard,  cress,  and  radish- 
seed.  In  five  days,  the  mustard,  cress,  and  radish- 
seed  had  sprouted,  and  begun  to  vegetate,  having 
thrown  out  a  considerable  length  of  root,  while  (what 
is  most  extraordinary)  the  shell-fish  were  even  then 
alive  !  Thus  have  we  Avheat,  barley,  peas,  mustard, 
cress,  and  radishes,  all  growing,  and  cockles  and  other 
shell-fish  in  a  living  state^  in  one  and  the  same  bed  of 


C0RRESPONDENCE.  279 

sea-sand  !  Should  any  one  be  at  all  incredulous  as  to 
the  truth  of  this  statement,  he  can  easily  try  the  ex- 
periment himself:  an  ordinary  flower-pot,  filled  with 
sea-sand,  sown  with  almost  any  kind  of  seeds,  would 
at  once  put  the  matter  to  the  test.  Common  hay-seed 
sown  in  October  last,  in  beds  of  sand  similar  to  the 
above,  and  treated  exactly  in  the  same  way,  have  now 
grown  to  the  extraordinary  height  of  three  feet  six 
inches  and  a  half.  Some  wheat  sown  about  Christ- 
mas last,  (now  in  ear,)  three  feet  three  inches  ;  barley, 
do.  three  inches  ;  peas  sown  about  April  last,  (pods 
completely  formed,)  three  feet  three  inches.  The 
farmers  all  around  the  bay  of  Morecambe,  in  forming 
compost  for  their  wheat  and  barley  crops,  use  of  sea- 
sand  about  twenty-six  carts,  (small  one-horse  carts,) 
lime  about  four  carts,  manure  ten  carts,  per  statute 
acre.  Why  use  so  great  a  quantity  of  sea-sand,  if  it 
does  not  possess  very  considerable  vegetative  power  ?  — 
Eng.  Paper. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Cultivator  : 

Sir, — I  see  you  are  recommending  the  culture 
of  the  native  grape.  I  have  some  native  vines  in  ray 
garden  ;  but,  latterly,  they  have  not  borne  many  grapes. 
I  suspect  I  have  not  given  them  a  sufficient  trimming, 
and  I  hesitate  as  to  the  proper  time  of  the  year  to  cut 
off  the  superfluous  branches.  As  you  have  experience 
in  its  cultivation,  will  you  let  me  know,  in  your  next 
paper,  when  is  the  best  time  to  trim,  or  whether  they 
shonld  ever  be  trimmed,  and  oblige      ^  Subscriber. 

Roxhury,  Nov.  '4za. 

Grape-vines  should  never  be  trimmed  in  spring  nor 
in  summer.     They  bleed  excessively  when  cut  in  those 


280 

seasons,  and  are  no  doubt  injured  in  the  operation. 
November  is  a  good  month  for  trimming  them  ;  proba- 
bly the  best  month  of  the  twelve.  At  this  season 
they  will  lose  no  sap,  and  the  cuttings  may  be  saved 
for  propagation,  either  by  covering  them  in  the  garden 
earth,  or  by  placing  them  in  a  cellar.  They  will  be 
more  likely  to  vegetate  in  spring  if  buried  in  sand  in 
the  cellar. 

We  are  not  in  favor  of  excessive  trimming  in  any 
case  :  it  is  as  pernicious  as  excessive  legislation.  If 
grape-vines  are  not  placed  too  near  each  other,  they 
will  not  require  much  trimming  ;  but  they  must  have 
something  to  rest  on,  —  a  tree,  a  rail-fence,  or  a  building. 
If  they  are  suffered  to  lie  without  poling,  without  run- 
ning up  so  as  to  have  a  free  circulation  of  air  through 
their  leaves,  they  will  not  be  likely  to  bear  fruit. 

We  have  seen  them  bear  abundantly,  year  after  year, 
without  any  attention,  when  they  were  allowed  to 
spread  out  on  a  tree,  or  on  a  high  fence  ;  but  we  think 
they  are  injurious  to  fruit-trees.  And  we  have  seen 
apple-trees  that  absolutely  refused  to  bear  other  fruit 
while  sustaining  a  load  of  grapes. 

Trellises  or  supports  should  be  prepared  at  this 
season,  or  at  least  the  vine  should  be  now  prepared  for 
another  season,  so  that  nothing  need  be  done  in  spring 
save  the  tying  of  it  to  the  support. 


[Communicated  for  the  Zanesville   Gazette.] 
AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY'S    REPORT. 

Crops  and  Cultivation.  The  committee  on  crops 
and  cultivation  respectfully  present  the  following  re- 
port. To  them  were  referred  these  questions,  viz  : 
"  What  crops  have  been  raised  in  this  country  ?  with 
what  success  ?  and  what  improvements  might  be  ef- 


281 

fected  in  the  mode  of  cultivation ^  or  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  kinds  of  crops  ?  " 

Your  committee  cannot  but  congratulate  themselves 
upon  the  unanimity  of  their  views  with  regard  to  the 
subjects  presented  to  them.  Coming  from  various  sec- 
tions, and  hitherto  strangers  to  each  other,  their  expe- 
rience and  observation  have  led  generally  to  the  same 
conclusions.  In  a  county  presenting  such  a  diversity 
of  soil  and  situation  as  ours,  no  general  remarks  can 
apply  with  equal  force  in  every  case.  Of  the  justness 
of  our  remarks,  and  their  applicability  to  his  own  situ- 
ation, each  can  best  judge  for  himself.  They  are  not 
made  in  a  spirit  of  dictation :  if  useful  to  any,  our  end 
is  gained. 

The  crops  which  have  come  under  our  notice,  as 
having  been  cultivated  in  this  county,  are  wheat,  Indian 
corn,  oats,  rye,  barley,  buckwheat,  clover,  potatoes, 
turnips,  flax,  hemp,  and,  to  a  very  small  extent,  ruta 
baga,  sugar-beet,  and  mangel- wurtzel. 

First  in  importance,  both  as  to  the  extent  of  its  cul- 
tivation, and  the  value  of  the  product,  is  the  wheat 
crop.  To  it  our  soil  and  climate  appear  to  be  well 
adapted.  Though  some  districts  yield  a  larger  crop, 
we  have  never  been  visited  by  such  serious  failures  as 
others  have  sufl*ered.  The  average  crop,  however, 
falls  far  short  of  what  v/e  believe  it  ought  ;  probably 
not  exceeding  fifteen  bushels  per  acre.  Late  and  care- 
less sowing  tends  much  to  produce  this  result.  The 
chief  difficulties  with  v.^hich  the  wheat  crop  has  to 
contend  arise  from  the  extreme  variableness  of  our 
climate.  Frequent  thaws  during  winter  are  often  sud- 
denly succeeded  by  severe  frost  when  the  young  wheat 
plants  are  unprotected  by  a  covering  of  snow.  They 
then  not  only  suff'er  from  the  frost,  but  when,  as  is 
often  the  case,  the  earth  becomes  dry  by  long  freezing, 
it  is  blown  from  about  their  roots,  leaving  them  still 
more  exposed.  Again,  in  spring  and  summer,  droughts 
are  often  succeeded  by  alternate   rains  and  hot   sun. 


282  AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY'S    REPORT. 

producing  scab  and  rust,  the  latter  especially  often  prov- 
ing very  destructiv^e.  Against  most  of  these  evils  early 
sowing  is  perhaps  the  best  preventive.  Wheat  sown 
in  September  would  evidently  be  better  fitted  to  with- 
stand the  rigors  of  winter  ;  and  experience  shows  that 
it  is  more  likely  to  escape  the  dangers  which  threaten 
it  in  summer.  Rarely  suffering  from  rust,  and  having 
longer  time  to  mature,  the  grain  is  generally  increased 
in  weight  and  improved  in  quality.  Ploughing  in  the 
seed,  or  some  other  method  which  would  insure  a 
deeper  covering  of  earth  than  it  generally  receives, 
would,  by  giving  a  greater  depth  of  root,  be  a  preserva- 
tive against  som.e  of  these  evils,  particularly  the  effects 
of  winds  and  drought.  Spring  wheat  has  not  yet  been 
tried  to  an  extent  sufficient  to  test  the  propriety  of  its 
general  instruction.  A  trial  of  it  is,  however,  desira- 
ble. If  found  to  be  adapted  to  our  climate,' it  would 
prove  a  valuable  acquisition,  especially  when  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  the  winter  variety  has  not  been  sown. 

For  the  profitable  culture  of  Indian  corn^  the  greater 
part  of  our  soil  is  not  well  fitted.  And  though  a  most 
valuable  crop,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  indispensably 
necessary  to  every  farmer,  it  is  desirable,  on  account  of 
its  exhausting  qualities,  and  the  exposure  of  the  soil  to 
washing  during  its  cultivation,  to  reduce  the  quantity 
grown  as  much  as  possible  by  the  introduction  of  other 
crops  to  supply  its  place.  And  here  we  would  recom- 
mend that,  in  the  cultivation  of  this  and  similar  crops, 
a  level  surface  should  be  retained  as  far  as  practicable. 
This  will  not  only  lessen  the  danger  of  washing,  but 
be  conducive  to  the  growth  of  the  crop. 

Oats  thrive  well  with  us,  and  are  to  be  prized  not 
only  for  their  marketable  value,  but  as  furnishing  an 
excellent  food  for  work-horses,  and  thus  superseding 
the  necessity  of  an  enlarged  crop  of  Indian  corn.  It 
has  also  been  found  to  be  an  excellent  preparation  for 
wheat  in  heavy  soils. 

Rye  has  proved  rather  an  unprofitable  crop  in  our 


AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY^ S    REPORT.  283 

county.  It  is  thought  to  be  inferior  in  quality  when 
grown  here  to  that  produced  in  some  other  districts. 
Requiring  equal  labor  with  wheat,  and  not  yielding 
any  more  per  acre,  while  its  market  value  is  less  than 
one  half,  its  cultivation  has  been  in  a  great  measure 
abandoned. 

The  culture  of  barley  has  also  been  an  unsuccessful 
experiment  ;  not  yielding  more  than  twenty  bushels 
per  acre,  while  its  cultivation  is  very  troublesome. 
With  regard  to  profit,  it  may  be  ranked  with  rye, 
neither  of  them  giving  a  sufficient  remuneration  for  the 
disagreeableness  of  encountering  their  lengthy  beards. 

Clover,  happily  for  us,  grows  luxuriantly  in  our  soil. 
At  once  useful  for  pasture,  hay,  and  the  improvement 
of  the  soil,  it  is  an  invaluable  crop,  and  should  at  once 
be  introduced  upon  every  farm.  Those,  however,  who 
expect  to  produce  a  kind  of  magical  effect  upon  their 
fields,  by  merely  scattering  a  few  seeds  over  them,  will 
most  surely  be  disappointed.  A  gallon  of  seed  per 
acre  is  necessary  to  produce  a  good  crop. 

Buckwheat  is  grown  in  small  quantities  ;  and,  as  the 
crop  is  rather  precarious  and  the  demand  for  it  limited, 
its  cultivation  cannot  become  much  more  extensive. 

Of  flax,  which  was  at  one  time  extensively  culti- 
vated for  domestic  purposes,  but  little  is  now  grown. 

Experiments  on  a  small  scale  have  been  tried  in  the 
culture  of  he7np ;  but  the  amount  and  disagreeable 
nature  of  the  labor  required  to  fit  it  for  market  Tenders 
it  rather  an  undesirable  crop. '  Neither  does  much  of  our 
soil  seem  well  suited  for  its  growth. 

Field  beans  have  been  raised  to  some  extent  for  the 
southern  market.  The  demand  being  small,  large 
crops  would  be  unsaleable.  But  as  an  article  of  home 
consumption,  they  are  worth  the  attention  of  the 
farmer.  Sown  in  drills,  and  cultivated  like  corn,  they 
produce  about  twenty  bushels  per  acre. 

A  cheaper  and  more  abundant  supply  of  food  for 
stock  than  is  afforded  by  exhausting  farinaceous  crops, 


284    ■ 

has  hecome  a  desideratum  with  our  farmers.  In  the 
Northeastern  States,  peas  have  been  resorted  to  for  this 
purpose.  Within  onr  knowledge  but  a  single  trial  has 
been  made  of  them  in  this  county.  Thongh  this  ex- 
periment was  not  conducted  with  sufficient  accuracy  to 
test  the  quantity  they  will  produce  per  acre,  it  has 
shown  that  they  will  grow  here  hixuriantly.  The 
gentleman  who  has  grown  them  here  gathers  them 
with  a  horse-rake,  without  any  previous  cutting.  He 
states  that  he  has  found  them  to  fatten  hogs  faster  than 
ariy  other  food  he  ever  tried. 

But  "  root  culture  "  presents  a  prospect  of  the  most 
abundant  supply.  Which  is  the  best  kind  of  root  is  a 
question  yet  to  be  decided.  The  potato,  which  some 
have  recommended,  however  indispensable  for  the 
table,  requires  too  much  labor  in  its  production,  and  is 
too  uncertain  to  be  depended  on  for  stock  feeding. 
The  common  turnip  is  still  more  uncertain. 

The  ruta  baga,  sugar-beet,  and  mangel- wurtzel  seem 
to  divide  public  favor,  though  the  latter  has  the  most 
advocates.  Sufficient  experiments  have  not  yet  been 
made  in  this  county  to  test  their  relative  or  positive 
rate  o    production. 

And  further  permit  us  to  remark,  that,  however  cor- 
rect our  theories,  or  whatever  crops  we  cultivate,  a  neat 
and  thorough  manner  of  doing  every  thing  is  necessa- 
ry to  insure  success.  A  scarcity  of  laborers  and  the 
abundant  production  of  a  vigorous  soil  have  induced  a 
careless  and  negligent  habit  of  farming.  A  disposition 
to  regard  the  extent  of  our  fields  more  than  the  manner 
of  their  cultivation,  has  been  but  too  prevalent.  But 
a  better  spirit  we  believe  is  beginning  to  prevail. 
Farmers  are  becoming  aware  that  the  best  cultivation 
is  the  most  profitable ;  and  we  hope  that  the  formation 
of  this  society  will  be  an  era  from  Avhich  we  shall  date 
the  commencement  of  a  rapid  advance  to  excellence. 
All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

John  Stillwell,  Chairman, 


AGE    OF    THE    HORSE.  285 

[From  the  Genesee  Farmer.] 

AGE  OF  THE  HORSE. 

"  P.  L.  P."  of  Ludlowville,  has,  in  a  number  of 
queries,  called  our  attention  to  that  valuable  animal, 
the  horse,  and  requested  information  on  some  subjects 
that  cannot  well  be  illustrated  without  the  aid  of  the 
proper  engravings,  to  which  reference  can  be  made. 
These  it  is  our  intention  to  procure  ;  and,  with  their 
aid,  we  shall  endeavor  to  give  the  readers  of  the  Farmer 
some  items  of  knowledge  respecting  this  noble  animal 
that  will  be  practically  useful.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
following  remarks  on  the  structure  of  the  teeth  will 
show  the  foundation  on  which  a  knowledge  of  the  age 
of  the  horse  is  obtained  by  attending  to  them. 

Among  dealers  in  horses,  the  front  teeth,  which  are 
called  inciso7^s  in  other  animals,  are  called  nippers,  as, 
from  the  motion  of  the  horse  in  eating,  it  is  evident 
the  grass  is  rather  broken  off  than  cut  by  the  teeth. 
These  teeth,  six  in  number,  are  covered  with  a  very 
hard  substance  called  enamel,  the  base  of  which  is 
phosphate  of  lime,  and  is  so  compact  as  almost  to  bid 
defiance  to  the  best  files.  This  enamel  constitutes  the 
outside  of  the  tooth,  and  as  it  rises  above  the  surface 
is  bent  inward,  and  apparently  sunk  into  the  body  of 
the  tooth,  forming  an  indentation  or  pit,  occupying  the 
centre  of  the  tooth ;  and  the  inside  and  bottom  of  this 
being,  during  its  existence,  blackened  by  the  food, 
constitutes  the  pecuhar  appearance  or  mark  by  which, 
until  the  tooth  is  much  worn,  the  age  of  the  horse  can 
be  determined.  As  the  teeth,  or  nippers,  are  renewed 
at  different  times,  the  mark  will  be  partially  or  entirely 
worn  from  some,  while  it  will  be  entire  on  others :  the 
difference  in  the  wearing,  until  all  are  worn,  is  a  crite- 
rion not  liable  to  error.  The  hollow  part  never  fills 
up,  but  remains  there  till  the  enamel  is  worn  to  the 
25 


286  TINCTURE    OF    ROSES. 

same  level,  when  the  wear  of  the  whole  teeth  is  nearly- 
uniform. 

The  horse's  month  is  not  perfect,  that  is,  all  the 
teeth,  nippers,  tusks,  and  grinders,  have  not  made  their 
appearance  until  he  is  about  six  years  old.  The  wear 
is  now  operative  on  all,  and  the  mark  has  disappeared 
from  the  central  nippers.  At  seven  years,  the  mark  is 
worn  out  on  the  four  central  nippers,  and  is  fast  wear- 
ing from  the  outer  ones.  At  eight  years,  the  marks  are 
all  gone  from  the  nippers  of  the  under  jaw,  or  the 
bottom  ones  ;  and  there  is  nothing  remaining  on  them 
Avhich  clearly  indicates  the  age  of  the  horse,  or  ''  which 
will  justify  the  most  experienced  examiner  in  giving  a 
positive  opinion."  Dealers,  or  horsemen,  after  the 
animal  is  eight  years  old,  are  accustomed  to  look  at  the 
nippers  in  the  upper  jaw,  and  some  aid  may  be  drawn 
from  the  appearances  they  present,  as  they  do  not  at 
all  times  wear  away  with  the  regularity  or  the  quick- 
ness of  the  lower  nippers.  Still  the  information  they 
give  after  eight  cannot  be  implicitly  relied  on  ;  and  it 
is  a  common  saying  among  jockeys,  that  a  horse  is 
never  more  than  nine.  Up  to  eight  years  of  age,  "P. 
L.  P.''  can  determine  the  age  of  his  horse  ;  later  than 
that,  he  must  depend  on  his  own  or  others'  knowledge, 
or  en  tradition. 


TINCTURE  OF  ROSES. 


Take  the  leaves  of  the  common  rose,  place  them, 
v/ithout  pressing  them,  in  a  bottle  ;  pour  good  spirits  of 
wine  upon  them,  close  the  bottle,  and  let  it  stand  until 
it  is  required  for  use.  This  tincture  will  keep  for  years, 
and  yield  a  perfume  little  inferior  to  otto  of  rose  :  a  iew 
drops  of  it  will  suffice  to  impregnate  the  atmosphere  of 
a  room  with  a  delicious  odor.  Common  vinegar  is 
greatly  improved  by  a  very  small  quantity  being  added 
to  it. —  German  paper. 


MAKING    BACON.  287 


MAKING  BACON. 


Bacon  is  an  article  of  use  in  nearly  every  family  in 
this  country  ;  yet  very  little  attention  is  paid  to  its 
preparation  by  most  of  our  farmers.  It  is  enough  for 
them  that  the  hams  are  taken  out,  salted  at  random, 
smoked  in  an  imperfect  manner,  and  this  is  then  called 
bacon.  The  western  part  of  Yirginia  is  most  famous 
for  its  fine  bacon  ;  and  those  at  the  north  who  have  in 
substance  adopted  the  mode  pursued  there,  find  their 
bacon  greatly  improved. 

Too  heavy  hogs  are  not  so  good  for  bacon  as  those 
that  are  smaller,  if  equally  well  fattened.  One  that 
will  weigh  two  hundred  is  large  enough,  as  the  salt 
will  strike  through  the  pieces  more  equally,  and  the 
smoking  be  more  perfect.  It  is  essential,  for  the  first 
rate  bacon,  that  the  pork  should  be  corn-fed ;  at  least, 
if  any  thing  is  used  to  aid  in  fattening,  it  should  be  in 
the  first  part  of  the  time,  and  corn  be  given  for  five  or 
six  weeks  previous  to  slaughtering.  The  pork  of 
corn-fed  pigs  will  be  hard  and  compact,  and  the  kidney 
fat ;  instead  of  being  soft  and  unctuous,  like  lard,  will 
be  solid,  like  beef  suet. 

In  the  best  establishment  for  making  bacon,  three 
pecks  of  salt  and  one  pound  of  saltpetre  are  used  for 
every  thousand  pounds  of  pork ;  the  salt  to  be  meas- 
ured, and  the  saltpetre  reduced  to  powder,  thoroughly 
incorporated  or  mixed  with  it.  None  but  the  best  salt 
should  be  used  in  making  bacon.  At  the  south,  that 
which  is  produced  at  the  Kenhawa  works,  at  the  first 
crystallization,  is  preferred  ;  at  the  north,  the  coarse 
salt  of  the  Onondaga  works,  or  that  produced  by  evap- 
oration, is  to  be  chosen  as  more  pure  than  any  other 
kind. 

The  prepared  salt  is  to  be  thoroughly  rubbed  on  the 
meat,  and  then  liberally  sprinkled  over  the  outside. 
There  is  little  danger  of  oversalting  from  quantity  :  it 


288  MAKING    BACON. 

is  length  of  time  that  produces  the  result.  The  meat 
is  to  be  laid,  with  the  skin  side  down,  in  good  casks ; 
the  hams  and  shoulders  first,  and  then  the  smaller 
pieces.  Salt  must  be  sprinkled  over  the  bottom  of  the 
cask  before  the  meat  is  laid  in.  At  the  fourth  or  fifth 
day,  the  meat  must  be  taken  up  and  again  thoroughly 
rubbed  with  the  salt.  At  this  period  of  the  process, 
some  use  a  teaspoonful  of  powdered  red  pepper  to  each 
piece,  and  the  whole  is  replaced,  after  any  bloody  or 
impure  brine  that  may  have  formed  in  the  cask  is  re- 
moved. In  about  two  weeks,  the  smaller  pieces  will 
be  fully  salted,  and  should  be  taken  from  the  cask,  and 
the  remainder  repacked  ;  those  that  were  at  the  top 
being  now  placed  at  the  bottom,  as  pressure  will  pre- 
vent the  passage  of  the  brine  through  the  meat,  if  the 
position  of  the  pieces  is  not  changed.  The  shoulders 
will  be  struck  through  in  about  three  weeks, -and  the 
hams  in  four. 

Smoking  is  the  next  important  part  of  the  business, 
and  should  be  well  done,  or  good  bacon  cannot  be 
made.  Smoke-houses  are  usually  too  small  ;  the  meat 
hangs  too  crowded,  and  too  near  the  fire.  The  pieces 
should  by  no  means  touch  the  wall,  or  each  other ;  but 
space  for  the  free  circulation  of  the  smoke  should  in 
all  cases  be  allowed.  The  time  required  for  smoking 
is  the  same  as  that  for  salting,  —  four  weeks  for  hams, 
three  weeks  for  shoulders,  and  two  weeks  for  the  other 
pieces,  or  middlings.  Damp  weather  is  improper  for 
smoking  meat,  as  the  bacon,  from  the  dampness  that  is 
apt  to  settle  on  the  meat,  acquires  a  bitter  flavor,  in 
some  respects  like  that  given  by  pyroligneous  acid. 
Sound  maple  chips,  or  blocks  of  hickory-wood,  are 
chosen  for  smoking  meat ;  though  the  celebrated  Ham- 
burg hams  are  smoked  with  oak-wood  alone.  The 
smoke-house  should  be  at  a  moderate  temperature,  as 
that  will  greatly  assist  in  preventing  the  appearance  of 
dampness  on  the  meat.  Two  fires  a  day,  if  properly 
made,  will  finish  the  smoking  in  the  time  specified 


BOTs.  289 

above.  Some  throw,  occasionally,  powdered  red  pep- 
per on  the  fire,  as  it  is  said  to  prevent  the  attacks  of 
insects  on  the  bacon  after  smoking,  and  somewhat  im- 
proves the  flavor. 

If  the  smoke-house  can  be  kept  perfectly  secure 
against  the  entrance  of  insects,  and  is  dark  and  cool, 
the  bacon  may  be  left  in  it  till  wanted  for  use  ;  but 
there  are  few  houses  of  this  description,  and,  on  the 
approach  of  warm  weather,  must  be  taken  down  and 
packed  away  secure  till  required  for  the  table.  Salt, 
clean  hickory-ashes,  or  oats,  will  secure  it  from  insects 
or  dripping,  if  placed  in  a  dry  or  cool  position.  It  is 
sometimes  kept  by  white-washing  the  surfaces,  by  dip- 
ping the  hams  in  strong  lie,  which  converts  the  sur- 
face into  a  kind  of  soap,  and  sometimes  by  sewing 
them  up  closely  in  cotton.  Probably  the  best  mode, 
however,  in  all  respects,  is  to  pack  them  down  in  pow- 
dered charcoal,  which  will  not  only  effectually  exclude 
all  insects  whatever,  but,  by  keeping  the  meat  dry, 
and  correcting  any  tendency  to  unpleasant  flavor,  keep 
the  meat  in  good  order  for  any  length  of  time.  —  Gen- 
esee Farmer. 


[From  the  Pictou  (N.  S.)  Farmer.] 

BOTS. 


The  committee  will  conclude  their  report  with  a 
few  remarks  on  bots  in  horses,  although,  strictly  speak- 
ing, without  the  limits  of  their  subject. 

The  estrus  communis,  or  horse-bee,  as  it  is  common- 
ly calkd,  is  seen  depositing  its  little  yellow  eggs  on  the 
legs  of  horses,  during  the  summer  and  autumn :  these 
are  taken  ofl"  by  the  horse,  biting  at  flies,  or  scratching 
himself^  and  swallowed.  In  the  stomach  of  the  horse 
25* 


290  BOTS. 

they  are  hatched,  and  this  is  the  place  nature  has 
assigned  for  their  first  transformation.  They  are  now 
in  the  state  of  maggots ;  and,  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
they  are  always  found  in  great  numbers  adhering  to 
the  lower  part  of  the  stomach,  and  the  adjoining  intes- 
tine. After  a  time,  they  quit  the  body  with  the  faeces, 
and  soon  again  assume  the  form  of  the  fly.  One  of 
the  committee  has  investigated  this  subject  with  some 
pains,  and,  after  having  examined  the  stomach  of  seve- 
ral horses  supposed  to  have  died  of  bots,  he  has  come 
to  the  conviction  that  these  animals  scarcely  ever 
cause  death  in  the  horse.  In  animals  that  have  been 
killed  by  violence  they  are  found  in  equal  numbers  as 
in  those  supposed  to  have  died  of  bots.  In  fact,  he  be- 
lieves no  horse's  stomach,  that  has  been  exposed  to  the 
fly,  will  be  without  them  in  the  spring  season.  He 
has  almost  uniformly  found  the  stomach  uiiinjured, 
though  swarms  of  the  animals  were  adhering ;  and  it  is 
impossible  that  they  can  prove  fatal  in  any  other  way 
than  by  gnawing  and  inflaming  the  coats  of  this  organ. 
The  reason  that  death  is  so  often  ascribed  to  the 
presence  and  operations  of  these  worms,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  general  ignorance  of  the  symptoms  of  other 
diseases :  the  horse  dies,  the  stomach  is  opened,  the 
bots  are  found,  and,  therefore,  they  are  the  cause  of  his 
death.  As  well  might  it  be  said  that  a  bird,  found 
sitting  on  a  fallen  tree,  had  been  the  cause  of  its  over- 
throw. In  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  they 
will  be  found  entirely  innocent,  and  some  other  impor- 
tant organ  will,  if  carefully  examined,  present  appear- 
ances sufficient  to  account  for  the  fatal  event.  If  it  be 
admitted  that  bots  can  cause  the  disorder,  unfortunately 
we  possess  no  means  of  ascertaining  their  presence,  no 
symptom  to  be  depended  on,  except  the  accidental  one 
of  their  being  voided  ;  and  we  know  of  no  remedies 
that  can  claim  the  least  confidence  to  eflTect  their  dis- 
lodgement. 

All  kinds  of  burning  and   corrosive  medicines  have 


FARMERS  AND  MECHANICS.  291 

been  poured  down  the  unfortunate  animal's  throat,  with 
no  other  effect  than  that  of  increasing  the  original  dis- 
ease, or  producing  one  where  none  previously  existed, 
without  disturbing  the  worms  in  the  least.  One  of  the 
committee  has  experimented  on  them  after  the  death  of 
the  horse,  by  placing  them  in  a  cup  with  spirits  of  tur- 
pentine, strong  lie,  and  various  powerful  medicines, 
without  producing  any  effect  for  many  hours.  This 
being  the  case,  it  is  impossible  to  apply  any  of  them 
for  a  sufficient  space  of  time  to  destroy  the  bots,  leav- 
ing out  of  the  question  the  injury  done  to  the  tender 
coats  of  the  horse's  stomach  by  substances  so  perni- 
cious. 

If  there  are  grounds  to  suppose  that  worms  are 
really  the  mischief,  the  most  eligible  course  is  to  im- 
prove the  horse's  condition  by  change  of  diet,  moderate 
exercise,  and  grooming,  with  occasional  doses  of  some 
gentle  alterative  medicine. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

James  N.  Crane, 
Stephen  Gould, 
Edward  L.  Brown. 
Lower  Horton,  September  23,  1839. 


[Extracts  from  a  speech  by  David  Paul  Brown,  Esq.] 

FARMERS  AND  MECHANICS. 

^'Why,  gentlemen,  who  was  it  that  shed  the  bright- 
est lustre  upon  the  vast  science  of  astronomy  ?  One 
David  Rittenhouse,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who  fol- 
lowed the  plough.  Who  was  it  that  tore  the  lightning 
from  heaven,  and  the  sceptre  from  tyrants?  One 
Benjamin  Franklin,  a  printer's  boy,  who  protected 
himself  from  the  inclemency  of  winter  by  exercise 
alone,    and  lived  upon  a  single  roll  of  bread  a  day. 


292  FARMERS  AND  MECHANICS, 

Who  was  itj  when  the  veteran  armies  of  Great  Britain 
faltered  and  fled  in  the  Indian  war,  safely  conducted 
the  retreat,  and  secured  the  remnant  of  the  army, 
though  he  had  'never  set  a  squadron  in  the  field,  nor 
the  division  of  a  battle,  knew  more  than  a  spinster  ? ' 
One  George  Washington,  a  Virginia  planter.  Who 
was  it  that  shed  the  brighest  halo  around  the  brightest 
reign  that  the  world  ever  knew,  —  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, the  age  of  the  Raleighs,  the  Bacons,  Sidneys  ? 
Why,  it  was  one  Ben  Johnson,  a  quondam  apprentice 
to  a  bricklayer,  and  one  Will  Shakspeare,  a  peasant  boy, 
shrewdly  suspected  of  poaching  upon  his  neighbor's 
deer.  Or,  passing  from  astronomy  and  poetry  to  law, 
who  was  it  rose  from  a  low  beginning  to  be  lord  chief 
justice  of  England?  One  Charley  Abbott,  whose 
father  was  a  barber.  Who  was  it  that  rose  to  be  lord 
high  chancellor  of  England  ?  One  Jack '  Copley, 
"v^hose  father  was  an  American  painter.  Who  was  it 
that  became  the  brightest  star  in  the  judicial  constella- 
tion of  Great  Britain  ?  One  Phil.  Yorke,  whose  father 
no  one  knew.  Or,  passing  to  a  still  further  illustra- 
tion —  *  *  #  # 

"  Although  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  never 
was  a  great  man  among  the  wealthy,  curled  darlings  of 
the  nation,  yet  I  do  mean  to  say,  and  history  sustains 
the  assertion,  that  luxury  and  afliuence  are  calculated 
to  enfeeble  the  mind,  and  that  those,  therefore,  who 
are  great  in  despite  of  them,  would  probably  be  much 
greater  if  removed  from  their  influence.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  among  gentlemen  of  the  turf,  that  blooded 
horses,  which  for  years  have  been  permitted  to  browse 
and  cater  on  broken,  irregular,  and  mountainous  pas- 
tures, have  acquired  a  much  greater  muscular  strength, 
in  sportsman's  phrase,  better  bottom,  than  those  which 
are  fed  upon  a  level  surface.  The  application  of  this, 
although  a  physical  illustration,  is  not  difficult.  Men 
whose  lives  have  been  an  uninterrupted  course  of  diffi- 
culty, a  perfect  up-hill  work,  acquire  in  time  a  self- 


IMPROVEMENT    OF    THE    SOIL. 


293 


dependence,  and  a  self-sufficiency  and  promptitude  in 
every  emergency,  which  those  who  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  stand  for  fame  on  their  forefathers'  feet,  or  to 
lean  for  all  pleasure  upon  another's  breast,  never  have 


known,  and  never  can  know." 


[From  the  Farmers'  Companion.] 


IMPROVEMENT  OF   THE   SOIL  BY   ANIMAL  AND   VEGE- 
TABLE MANURES, 

The  great  sources  of  fertility  to  the  farm  are  the 
refuse  of  the  crops  which  they  bear,  modified  by  the 
farm  stock,  and  preserved  and  judiciously  applied  by 
the  husbandman.  There  is  not  a  vegetable  matter 
grown  upon  the  farm,  be  it  considered  ever  so  useless 
or  noxious,  but  will,  after  it  has  served  ordinary  useful 
purposes,  impart  fertility  to  the  soil,  and  contribute  to 
the  growth  of  a  new  generation  of  plants,  if  it  is  judi- 
ciously husbanded  and  applied.  There  is  not  an  ani- 
mal substance,  be  it  solid,  liquid,  or  gaseous,  be  it  bone, 
horn,  urine,  hair,  wool,  or  flesh,  or  the  gases  which  are 
generated  by  the  decomposition  of  these  matters,  but, 
with  like  care  and  skill,  may  be  converted  into  new 
vegetable  and  afterwards  into  new  animal  matters. 
To  economize  and  apply  all  these  fertilizing  materials 
is  the  province  and  the  duty  of  the  husbandman.  To 
aid  him  in  this  useful  labor,  is  the  object  of  this  essay. 
And,  — 

1.  Of  the  Cattle-yard.  This  should  be  located 
on  the  south  side  of  and  adjoining  the  barn.  Sheds, 
substantial  walls,  or  close  board  fences,  should  be 
erected  at  least  on  the  east  and  west  sides,  to  shelter 
the  cattle  from  cold  winds  and  storms  ;  the  size  and 
the  divisions  to  be  adapted  to  the  stock  which  it  is  in- 
tended to  feed.  Excavate  the  centre,  or  some  other 
part  of  the  yard,  placing  the  earth  removed  upon  the 


294 


IMPROVEMENT    OF    THE    SOIL    BY 


borders,  which  may  be  ten  to  fourteen  feet  broad,  or 
upon  the  lower  sides,  where  there  is  a  descent,  so  that 
the  Hquids  will  all  run  to  the  centre,  and  the  borders, 
which  should  be  left  gentl}^  inclining,  will  remain  dry 
and  firm,  for  feeding  the  cattle  upon.  The  centre 
may  be  from  two  to  five  feet  lower  than  the  borders. 
The  labor  may  be  done  principally  with  the  plough 
and  scraper,  and  smoothed  off  with  the  scraper  and 
hoe.  We  were  employed  two  days  and  a  half,  with 
two  hands  and  a  team,  in  giving  a  cattle-yard  the 
desired  shape.  When  the  soil  of  the  yard  is  not  suffi- 
ciently compact  to  hold  water,  or  is  not  likely  to  be- 
come so  by  the  tread  of  the  cattle,  or  the  puddling 
eifects  of  the  manure,  the  bottom  should  be  bedded 
with  six  or  eight  inches  of  clay,  well  beat  down,  and 
well  covered  with  gravel.  This  is  seldom,  however, 
necessary.  Our  yards  are  upon  a  sand  loam,'  and  yet 
the  liquids  never  sink  into  the  earth. 

When  the  yard  is  prepared,  the  first  thing  done 
should  be  to  overlay  the  whole  bottom  with  six  to 
twelve  inches  of  peat-smamp  earth,  where  it  is  at  com- 
mand ;  and,  where  it  is  not,  with  earth  from  ditches, 
the  road-side,  or  other  rich  deposits.  It  is  then  fit  for 
the  reception  of  the  cattle,  and  of  straw,  coarse  hay, 
corn-stalks,  and  other  litter  of  the  farm  ;  and,  subse- 
quently ^  as  they  may  be  gathered,  the  weeds,  potato  and 
pumpkin-vines,  and  other  vegetable  matters.  These 
materials  will  absorb  or  take  up  the  urine  and  other 
liquids,  and,  becoming  incorporated  with  the  dung, 
double  or  treble  the  ordinary  quantity  of  manure. 
During  the  continuance  of  frost,  the  excavation  gives 
no  inconvenience  ;  and,  when  the  weather  is  soft,  the 
borders  afford  space  for  feeding  the  cattle,  and  for  a  dry 
passage  to  the  barn.  In  this  way  the  urine  is  saved, 
and  the  waste  incident  to  rains,  &c.  prevented.  The 
barns  and  sheds  which  adjoin  the  yards  should  be  pro- 
vided with  eve-gutters,  which  should  discharge  out- 
side of  the  yard,  so  that  the  waters  from  the  roofs  may 
pass  ofi". 


ANIMAL    AND    VEGETABLE    MANURES.  295 

As  a  further  precaution  against  waste  by  rains,  a 
cistern  or  tank  may  be  sunk  near  the  yard,  into  which 
an  under  drain  may  be  made  to  conduct  the  liquids, 
when  they  are  hkely  to  accumulate  to  excess.  These 
liquids  may  be  pumped  into  casks  upon  carts,  and  em- 
ployed to  great  advantage  upon  grass  or  arable  crops. 
The  Flemings  call  these  liquids  the  cooked  food  of  their 
crops. 

To  guard  against  the  wasting  influence  of  the  sun 
in  summer,  a  roughly  constructed  covering,  supported 
by  posts,  may  be  erected  over  the  central  depot.  This 
is  seldom  necessary  under  our  mode  of  management, 
which  requires  a  thorough  cleaning  of  the  yard  every 
spring,  for  the  corn,  potato,  and  other  root  crops. 

The  cattle  should  be  kept  constantly  yarded  in 
winter,  except  when  let  out  to  water,  not  only  because, 
if  suffered  to  run  at  large,  they  poach  and  injure  the 
fields  and  meadows,  but  because  they  waste  their 
dung;  and  the  yard  should  be  frequently  replenished 
with  fresh  litter.  Upon  this  plan,  from  ten  to  twelve 
loads  of  manure  may  readily  be  obtained,  every  spring, 
from  each  animal  wintered  in  the  yard.  If  the  manure 
from  the  horse-stables  and  from  stalled  neat  cattle  be 
added,  the  quantity  will  not  only  be  proportionally  in- 
creased, but  the  quality  improved.  Whenever  the 
yard  is  thoroughly  cleaned  for  spring  crops,  it  ought  to 
be  again  bedded  with  fresh  earth,  and  well  littered. 

2.  The  Stables,  whether  occupied  by  horses  or 
cattle,  may  be  made  to  contribute  much  to  the  value 
of  the  yard  dung,  by  their  urine,  which  may  be  con- 
ducted into  the  yard  by  paved  or  other  conduits,  lead- 
ing from  the  stables  to  the  yard.  In  these,  too,  litter 
may  be  as  profitably  employed  to  increase  the  dung, 
and  to  promote  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  animal, 
as  in  the  yard  or  open  sheds.  The  dung  from  the 
horse-stables,  if  suffered  to  lie  in  a  mass,  is  apt  to  heat 
and  become  fire-fanged,  as  it  is  termed,  which  very 
much    impairs    its  quality.     Where   there  are  cellars 


296  CABBAGE-PLANTS. 

under  stables,  the  dang  is  thrown  down  into  them,  and 
is  there  protected  from  the  wasting  influence  of  the 
weather  ;  but  even  here  it  is  liable  to  suffer  injury, 
unless  hogs  are  permitted  to  root  among  it,  or  unless 
the  cellar  is  frequently  cleaned  out.  An  approved 
practice  is,  to  scatter  the  dung  from  the  stables  over 
the  cattle-yard,  which  thus  retards  fermentation,  pre- 
vents waste,  and  produces  a  homogeneous  mass  of  ex- 
cellent manure. 

3.  The  Hog-pen.  Hogs  are  excellent  animals  for 
manufacturing  manure,  if  they  are  furnished  with  the 
raw  material,  as  peat,  earth,  straw,  weeds,  &c.  and  a 
suitable  place  for  conducting  the  process.  The  com- 
posts of  their  formation  is  among  the  cheapest  and  the 
best  that  are  used  upon  the  farm.  The  slops  of  the 
kitchen,  the  weeds  of  the  garden,  the  refuse  fruits  of 
the  orchard,  and  the  offal  of  the  farm,  are  readily  con- 
verted, by  these  swinish  laborers,  into  meat  or  manure. 
Hogs  are  profitable  laborers,  and  should  be  employed  to 
as  great  an  extent  upon  the  farm  as  the  proprietor's 
circumstances  will  permit. 

4  The  Sheep-fold  may  be  made  an  abundant 
source  of  fertility  to  the  farm.  Economy  in  its  manage- 
ment consists  in  giving  abundance  of  litter,  repeated 
at  short  intervals,  sufficient  to  absorb  the  urine,  prevent 
wasting  exhalations,  and  secure  health  to  the  flock,  and 
in  applying  the  dung  in  its  recent  or  unfermented  state. 


CABBAGE-PLANTS. 


WooD-ASHES  placed  about  cabbage-plants  will  much 
improve  their  condition.  Frequent  hoeing  will  serve 
to  keep  the  ground  moist,  and  will  help  their  growth. 

The  dryest  ground  in  the  garden  is  in  the  thickest 
growth  of  weeds.     These  suck  up  the  moisture  and 


give  it  the  winds. 


NEAT    STOCK.  297 


NEAT  STOCK. 

Wm.  Garbutt,  Esq.  of  Wheatland,  N.  Y.  in  a  com- 
munication to  the  Genesee  Farmer,  dated  19th  July, 
announces  the  arrival  of  a  bull  and  two  heifers,  imported 
by  Mr.  Vernon,  from  the  stock  of  Mr.  Davy,  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  breeders  of  the  pure  North  Devons  in 
Devonshire,  England,  and  says : 

"  The  animals  are  very  beautiful  and  sufficiently 
large  for  profit,  and  a  valuable  acquisition  to  Western 
New  York,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Vernon. 
I  consider  the  Devons  better  adapted  to  the  wants 
and  habits  of  the  farmers  in  Western  New  York  than 
any  other  of  the  improved  stock,  not  excepting  the  im- 
proved short-horned  Durhams.  The  want  of  size  in 
the  Devons  is  more  the  fault  of  the  breeders  than  the 
breed,  for  animals  soon  adapt  themselves  to  the  quanti- 
ty of  food  they  have  to  live  on.  They  are  excellent 
feeders,  and  the  beef  is  of  the  best  quality,  being  well 
mixed.  They  are  fair  milkers,  and  yield  a  great  pro- 
portion of  butter  and  cheese  to  the  quantity  of  milk : 
they  are  very  active,  tough,  and  hardy :  excellent 
travellers,  and  first  best  for  labor.  But  permit  me  here 
to  add,  that  we  farmers  must  learn  to  take  better  care 
of  our  animals  before  we  can  receive  much  benefit  from 
improved  stock.  If  we  cannot  supply  them  with  a 
sufficiency  of  nutritive  food,  and  shelter  them  from  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather,  it  is  of  very  little  conse- 
quence what  the  breed  may  be,  they  are  all  unprofita- 
•)q\q  *  #  *  ^\\Q  most  efficient  means  of  improving 
our  domestic  animals  would  be  the  introduction  of 
agricultural  exhibitions  :  by  comparing  each  other's 
stock,  we  should  become  judges,  see  their  defects,  find 
the  means  of  correcting  them,  and  receive  a  powerful 
stimulant  to  improvement." 

A  correspondent  in  the  same  journal  from  which  the 
above  extract  is  taken,  in  his  second  number  of  a  series 
26 


298  NEAT    STOCK* 

of  *'  Notices  of  Improved  Farm  Stock,"  in  New  York, 
thus  speaks  of  Mr.  C.  N.  Beraent's  at  his  Three  Hills 
farm,  near  Albany,  than  whom  a  more  distinguished 
and  successful  breeder  is  not,  perhaps,  to  be  found  in 
the  State  r 

''  Mr.  B's.  Durhams,  like  every  other  breeder  I  have 
called  upon,  have  become  pretty  well  thinned  in  point 
of  numbers  ;  he  has,  however,  a  few  still  for  sale  ; 
among  these  I  would  particularly  notice  his  yearling 
bull  Astoria,  as  being  of  good  size,  and  of  very  perfect 
symmetry  of  form.  I  also  took  quite  a  fancy  to  a  large 
three  year  old  heifer,  the  name  of  which  I  do  not  recol- 
lect. But  Durhams,  as  I  have  before  hinted,  I  do  not 
think  the  proper  stock  on  light  soils,  either  at  the  North 
or  South.  There  are  exceptions  ;  but,  as  a  grand  rule^ 
they  must  have  a  luxuriant  pasture  that  produces  a 
good  thick  bite  in  summer,  with  generous  feed  through- 
out the  winter,  or  it  is  idle  to  think  that  they  can  be 
kept  up  to  good  flesh  and  great  size.  I  believe  Mr.  B. 
for  one,  is  becoming  convinced  of  this,  and  has  accord- 
ingly procured  some  Devons,  an  Ayreshire  heifer,  with 
more  expected  soon  to  arrive  from  abroad,  and  also  a 
few  good  native  cov^s.  One  of  these  last,  of  handsome 
color,  limb,  and  shape,  unites  extraordinary  milking 
qualities.  From  the  19th  Dec.  to  18th  Jan.  she  made 
fifty-six  pounds  of  well-worked  butter,  which  is  nearly 
two  pounds  per  day,  a  great  yield  for  the  dead  of 
winter.  She  is  what  I  think  Col.  Jacques  would  class 
among  his  celebrated  "Cream-pot"  breed,  without 
hesitation.  I  have  ever  been  a  great  advocate  for  the 
improvement  of  our  native  breeds  of  all  description  of 
stock,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  Mr.  B.  enter  upon  the  sub- 
ject  so  spiritedly.  Massachusetts'  able  agricultural 
commissioner,  Mr.  Coleman,  has  shown,  by  his  reports, 
that  we  are  not  deficient  in  first-rate  dairy  cows. 
These  have  only  to  be  carefully  selected  and  crossed 
with  Durham  bulls  of  fine  points,  middling  size,  and  of 
deep  milking  families,  to  soon    insure    as  valuable  a 


TIMBER    FOR    FENCING.  299 

breed  of  dairy  cows  as  could  be  imported  at  ten  times 
their  expense  from  abroad.  In  this  way,  the  Ayreshires 
have  been  made,  that  have  become  second  now  only 
to  the  Durhams.  Conld  the  attention  of  stock  breeders 
be  better  employed  than  turning  to  this?  It  really 
seems  to  me  the  only  way  that  our  country  can  ever 
be  filled  up  with  good  milking  and  fattening  animals. 
A  few  years  of  such  breeding  would  assuredly  do  more 
for  us  than  a  century  of  importations." 


[From  tlie  Genesee  Farmer.] 

TIMBER  FOR  FENCING. 


Mr.  Editor, —  As  it  is  a  time  light  is  expanding,  and 
farmers  are  becoming  more  free  to  communicate  their 
several  stocks  of  knowledge  and  experience,  and  you 
have  interested  yourself  so  much  as  to  collect  informa- 
tion and  arrange  it  in  such  a  manner  that  it  may  be 
compared  to  a  great  reservoir,  public  storehouse,  to 
which  we  can  resort  for  almost  any  important  informa- 
tion which  is  necessary  to  our  concerns,  I  cast  in  my 
mite,  which  is  relative  to  the  choice  of  trees  for  culture. 
This  country  is  much  lacking  in  durable  timber  for 
fences,  &c.  yet  the  yellow  locust  and  native  mulberry 
are  easily  propagated,  and  almost  incorruptible  to  last 
as  fence  posts,  having  been  taken  up  for  examination, 
upon  Long  Island,  after  having  been  used  as  gate-posts, 
and  then  were  found  to  be  sound  enough,  to  all  appear- 
ance, to  last  fifty  years  more.  My  informant  I  think 
told  me  the  truth,  as  I  suppose  he  is  a  man  to  be  be- 
lieved. Mr.  Samuel  Wiman,  in  this  town,  informed 
me,  about  two  months  since,  he  had  a  native  mulberry 
bar-post  which  had  stood  thirty  years ;  that  it  was  still 
strong  in  the  ground  ;  the  holes  for  the  bars  to  run  in 
wore  out,  which  spoiled  it.  The  yellow  locust  and  native 


300  GRASSHOPPERS. 

mulberry  are  so  rapid  a  growth,  if  they  are  cultivated 
with  care,  that  though  a  fence  were  built  of  basswood, 
I  think  by  the  time  a  new  one  would  be  necessary,  the 
timber  would  be  grown  to  sufficient  size  to  make  posts 
to  board  to,  on  a  good  soil.  I  measure  my  ground, 
and  set  my  locust  trees  fourteen  feet  apart,  in  order  to 
have  them  for  posts  as  they  grow.  If  my  brother 
farmers  will  follow  the  preceding  method,  instead  of 
any  other  method,  or  kind  of  trees  I  have  seen  de- 
scribed, I  think  that  as  much  good  would  result  from 
the  operation  as  from  hedges  twice  told,  or  any  other 
operation  of  a  like  amount  of  cost  and  labor. 

H.  Seely. 


GRASSHOPPERS. 


Grasshoppers  multiply  much  faster  in  dry  weather 
than  in  wet.  Hens  and  turkeys  are  excellent  company 
for  them  when  they  can  keep  up.  If  they  fall  in  the 
rear,  they  should  be  driven  out  and  made  acquainted 
with  the  shy  little  hoppers. 


k 


^^ 


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